They talk hard, Laurent Mekies cornered and Charles Leclerc standing. In his new role as “confessor”, the Frenchman is called to have a closer relationship than before with the pilots, to listen to them. The Monegasque has just got out of the car, he has been working on the distance, on the race simulations. Not bad.
Carlos’ other words should also be read like this: “We certainly aren’t slow, but we don’t know how fast we are compared to them”. It’s the classic game of test masks, where outsiders emerge from the smokescreen to climb the rankings. Like Guanyu Zhou, who arrived in F1 with the reputation of being recommended, and instead the Chinese is proving to be solid. He set the pace ahead of Max with the fastest tires in the range, squeezing the Alfa-Sauber’s Ferrari engine. A good taste of the cavalry, a pity that he then crashed in the pit lane due to an unspecified problem, even if sources close to the team say it is not the power unit.
It’s no longer a surprise Fernando Alonso, regularly top the Aston Martin designed by ex-Red Bull Dan Fallows and Italian aerodynamicist Luca Furbatto. Maybe the free places will be played behind the big names, which are two for now.
Mercedes in trouble
Mercedes, by admission of its boss This is Wolff, he won’t be able to fight for victory at the start. And maybe not even after, considering the dark faces. The one of George Russell, grounded by a hydraulic leak. Those of the engineers who insisted on a losing concept hoping to straighten it out. And now they will be forced to copy their opponents to make up ground, because the new updates will go in the direction of Red Bull and Ferrari. It already feels like a surrender. Wolff also added that Verstappen – tests finished for him, today only Perez is running -, is hiding. If true, it would be a big problem for anyone trying to track him down.
Ferrari, qualifying laps today
Leclerc for now is limited to sentences of circumstance: «We are following the program, we have not had any reliability problems. We are finding the data we were looking for». He follows the corporate script of the glass half full, waiting to try to fill the other half as well. Because the Red Bull carafe seems overflowing, and even the reds know this. The technical menu will be enriched – a new bottom is coming and also a different rear wing -, today Charles and Carlos will try the qualifying laps. It’s the beginning of the end of the masquerade ball.
