Laurent Mekies on Ferrari customer teams running new ICEs in Australia and Friday practice impressions. Mekies on Ferrari customer teams running new ICEs.

Reliability always under observation
Among the many problems that Ferrari had to face in this first part of the 2023 Formula One season, one of the most pressing, also because it was inherited from last year, was the one related to reliability. The retirement of Charles Leclerc during the first Grand Prix of the season in Bahrain, which was also followed by the penalty on the grid in Jeddah for having already mounted a third battery on the #16 SF-23 in the second race, forced the Maranello team to come to terms with the knowledge that the troubles of 2022 have not yet been fully overcome.

Necessary precaution
In this context of understanding the issues, the decision taken by the Maranello team to replace the ICE component, essentially the internal combustion engine, on the power units of all four of its customer cars (the two Haas and the two Alfa Romeo cars) generated further concern. A move certified by the official press release of the FIA, issued at lunchtime in Melbourne, and explained in front of the microphones of Sky Sport F1 directly by the sporting director of the Maranello team, Laurent Mekies: The change of internal combustion engines on the customer teams? It doesn’t mean that we will no longer use the first engine for the rest of the season – the French manager specified – but for now we want to be more conservative”.

Good results in FP2
The first two free practice sessions, in terms of performance, was somewhat positive for the two Ferrari cars. In the first free practice session for the Australian Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished in fifth and sixth position, while in the afternoon session – marked by rain for the entire second half – the Monegasque was even the second fastest driver, with his teammate ending in fifth place. Interesting signs but all that have to be deciphered in tomorrow’s final free practice session and above all in qualifying at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne.

Race pace priority
What is certain is that Scuderia Ferrari is aware that it has a key weaknesses not so much in a flying lap, as evidenced by the good first two qualifying sessions of this season – especially for Charles Leclerc – but rather in terms of race pace. This is why Laurent Mekies clarified that the Maranello team’s attention will be concentrated above all on this second aspect during tomorrow’s FP3:

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“If we have to give priority to something, it’s still important for us to try the race pace over any other type of consideration for the qualifying session. It’s true that Melbourne has historically been difficult to overtake, but it’s also true that we now have four DRS zones. So the priority is the race pace, rather than knowing where we will arrive in qualifying” – the French manager concluded.