F1 Gp Brazil: Ferrari lists the dangers of Interlagos

Ferrari sports director Laurent Mekies: “Challenging challenge.”

Ferrari sporting director Laurent Mekies presented the pitfalls of the Brazilian Grand Prix in a note: “It is one of the classic circuits on the calendar. It is a track with so much character, offering a superb mix of medium-speed corners, with long straights and several ups and downs. That’s why it is so challenging in terms of set-up and aerodynamic load choice. It is also a track on which you often have to deal with heavy rain, which makes racing here even more unpredictable.”

“With the Sprint you go into qualifying after just an hour of free practice, and this is the main pitfall,” emphasized Mekies, “because from the moment you enter Q1, you cannot touch the set-up. This therefore particularly highlights the team’s ability to prepare for the weekend at home. I’m referring to the simulations we do approaching the race and also the work our drivers do physically in the simulator. It is particularly challenging for the drivers because it requires them to push to the limit after very few laps of tasting the track.”

“For the team, a Sprint weekend is a bit like a 400-kilometer Grand Prix interrupted by a red flag after a quarter of the race, 100 kilometers, precisely the length of the short race.”