The weekend of the Azerbaijan GP couldn’t have started in a better way for the Scuderia Ferrari team. After almost a month of pause and hard work, the Italian team was aiming to extract good performances from the SF-23 and bounce back after a very difficult start to the 2023 Formula One season.
Hard work that, according to the data, paid off as the team from Maranello, thanks to an extraordinary performance by Charles Leclerc (more than perfect in his last push in Q3), managed to secure the first pole position of the season and overtake Red Bull. A result that was, in fact, unimaginable until the last race when the RB19 seemed to be from another planet compared to the struggling Ferrari single-seater.
A great result that, even though it’s just a pole position and not yet a stage victory, represents a breath of fresh air for Maranello. The racing director of the team, Laurent Mekies, commented on the pole position at the end of the session to Sky Sport F1. First of all, the Frenchman did not hide his enthusiasm, his and the team’s, for the pole position achieved. A pole position that was the result of a great team effort over the past few weeks.
“The pole is a nice gift for the whole team, here and in Maranello, where everyone is pushing to the max to recover from this difficult start to the season. There was a small break that helped us prepare for this grand prix and we did everything we could to find performance.” – the French manager, who will leave Ferrari to join AlphaTauri.
The pole position was the result of both a significantly improved SF-23 compared to the previous races, but also, if not especially, the result of Charles Leclerc’s extraordinary performance. Laurent Mekies did not hesitate to praise his performance.
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“The weekend is long, it’s only Friday, but it’s great to see our drivers fighting with Red Bull. Besides that, I have to say that Charles had an extraordinary qualifying and he was an added value, as he always knows how to do.”
The former FIA then commented on the significant progress made by the Maranello team, which had already shown signs of recovery since Melbourne. A work, in fact, on the understanding of the car and on the set-up.
“Already in Melbourne, even though they had collected zero points, steps forward in performance were seen. It’s important to have had further confirmation today. Of course, we didn’t think we would get pole, but we found a direction to work in.” – he explained.
Finally, Mekies answered questions about his involvement within the Red team, from which he will separate to move to Alpha Tauri, as announced in recent days. He stated that his involvement is and will be total as long as he wears the red shirt: “The only thing that matters, on the track and in the factory, is the shirt you wear.”
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