Saturday in Monza is colored in red (and “Modena yellow”) thanks to the splendid qualifying session for Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. The Monegasque and the Spaniard made the thousands of fans happy by setting the first and third time at the end of Q3 for the Italian GP. On the very fast Monza straights only Max Verstappen managed to get between the two Ferrari drivers, denying what would have been an exciting 1-2 especially for the fans.
On the starting grid, in any case, only Charles Leclerc will start from the top positions; In fact, Carlos Sainz will be relegated to 18th place due to the penalties received following the replacement of the power unit.
Laurent Mekies, interviewed by Sky Sport F1 at the end of qualifying, still wanted to underline the excellent work made by the team, able to be competitive on a theoretically pro-Red Bull track taking into consideration what was seen on a track with similar characteristics such as that of Spa-Francorchamps: “First of all it is super exciting to race in Monza” – said the Ferrari sporting director – “Especially after two seasons with Covid. We didn’t know if we were going to put in a good performance to fight for pole position, but after three difficult races there was a lot of effort in terms of analysis. It is only Saturday, but it is an important result for all of us, a starting point. Saturday is not Sunday, but the team and the drivers have worked exceptionally not only with the tows, but also to find the right set-up ” – he explained, at the end of the qualifying session in Monza.
Precisely on the matter of ‘towing’, which has created several squabbles in the Red Bull box, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have instead worked perfectly together: “The tow is like many things in F1 – continued Laurent Mekies – there is a high benefit if you do it good, but also great risks of losing time if not done correctly. The team has done very well today as in the past. The team spirit that Charles and Carlos have is fantastic, the team was also good at calculating the gaps.” – he continued.
Regarding the revised starting grid due to the many penalties that have to be applied this weekend, not even the former FIA executive is yet sure how drivers will line-up tomorrow at Monza: “Calculations to be made? Let’s wait for the official grid from the Federation”.
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Laurent Mekies is focusing more on the differences in structure seen on track between Ferrari’s F1-75 and the RB18 of the Milton Keynes team: “It is the first race where we run with less downforce than the Red Bull and we will see tomorrow evening if this choice is the right one. It will be interesting to see who is right. Monza is a track with low degradation, strategy is not taken for granted. We have what it takes to fight, we will see in reality on Sunday what the winning tactic will be.” – the Ferrari racing director concluded.
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