Ferrari sporting director estimates chances of winning: 'Red Bull were flying'

Charles Leclerc's surprising win in qualifying on the Baku street circuit, again aided by a red flag in the final session, does not mean that the Scuderia has a chance of winning the Grand Prix, Ferrari sporting director Laurent Mekies agrees.

In conversation with Formel1.de Mekies admits to being surprised with the good result, because the current Ferrari does not perform optimally on the straights. "This is a surprise for us. With these long straights, we didn't expect to fight for pole here and even get it in the end."

"Still, Charles did it by a margin. And Carlos had the same pace. So it could have turned out one way or the other. We could have had both cars in front or we could have both cars on the third row of the grid." said Mekies.

No illusions

Asked about his expectations for the race, Mekies says: "We are not kidding ourselves. We won't have the pace to fight for victory. Red Bull flew in the long run on Friday, as did Lewis."