It was a Friday of hard work but overall positive for Scuderia Ferrari at the Montmelo circuit for the Spanish Grand Prix. It was an important day, marked by great pressure and high expectations, as the long-awaited developments were finally introduced on the SF-23 car after months, generating much anticipation regarding their effectiveness and their ability to bring the Prancing Horse back to the higher ranks of the standings.
Well, at least so far, the developments brought to the Spanish venue seem to have worked as expected, allowing the SF-23 to take a decent step forward in terms of pure performance and, above all, to make a leap forward in race pace management and tire management. Based on the data, on Friday, the red cars performed well in single-lap pace (although not extracting the full potential) and, most importantly, they showcased an impressive long-run performance, on par with Sergio Perez’s Red Bull.
These updates were analyzed by the Scuderia Ferrari’s racing director, Laurent Mekies, who was interviewed just moments before the start of the final free practice session by Sky Sport F1. The Frenchman first commented on the introduced developments (which represent a point of discontinuity with the SF-23’s basic philosophy) and the work program carried out, consisting of comparative tests between the two cars, aimed at understanding them.
“Before talking about the feeling, it must be said that we carried out a comprehensive test, the best possible. We implemented the updates on one car first and then on both, conducting cross-comparisons.” – the French manager explained.
These developments, besides being visually different, also imply a different use of the car. According to Laurent Mekies, the red car is only at the beginning of a long journey of understanding the updates and maximizing the Ferrari car’s potential.
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“This program was due to the different developments, which are significant and will lead us to use the car differently than before. It’s the beginning of a journey.” – he added.
The former FIA official then tried to temper the high expectations resulting from these upgrades, stating that the first answers will only come after the race, and a comprehensive evaluation will be possible only after a longer period of time: “In the race, we’ll have more answers and understand how to better use the car.” – Laurent Mekies concluded.
