Ferrari chief: Emilia Romagna GP will be a "chess game" with Red Bull

Laurent Mekies has taken defeat in the sprint race sportingly. The Ferrari race director states that the difference with Red Bull Racing is only minimal and that there are still chances to take the full prize on Sunday with Charles Leclerc or Carlos Sainz.

"The simple truth is that they [Red Bull] are very strong. Not only is Max very fast, but also Checo. You could see that in his lap time," Mekies said in front of the Sky Sports microphone. The top man thinks the RB18 and Ferrari's F1-75 are very much matched in Italy."I don't think there is much between our cars this weekend. So, it will come down to small details."

Leclerc was working to widen the gap to Verstappen to 1.7 seconds, but then Verstappen closed in at breakneck speed. There was no stopping the Dutchman and as he crossed the finish line he conceded 2.9 seconds to the reigning world champion. At Ferrari they will hope to learn from what happened during the sprint race and prepare better for the actual Grand Prix.

What is the best strategy?

Mekies: "We will learn from what happened. We all had limited time to drive in dry conditions. We have all evening to analyze the data and pretty much all tyre compounds are still available. It will be a chess game." With almost all of Friday's driving done on wet tyres, there are an awful lot of options in terms of strategy for the race.