Ferrari: Next part of the season promises to be complicated

The Scuderia enjoyed one of their most competitive race weekends since the end of the 2019 season in Monaco, with Carlos Sainz finishing second after Charles Leclerc took pole position.

The fact that Leclerc was unable to start the race from the front was of course a blow, but in a more general sense Ferrari should have taken heart from the showing.

However, Mekies has warned that it will be far from smooth sailing for Ferrari as they look to return to the front of the grid on a more regular basis.

“Now begins a part of the season that promises to be complicated for us,” he said. “If in Spain the SF21 was clearly the third best in the field and in Monaco even showed the potential to win, the situation is set to be different in the next races, starting with Baku."

Ferrari are currently embroiled in a fight for third in the constructors' championship with McLaren, and Mekies expects the Woking team to be strong across the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend.

“Already this weekend in Baku we expect a very strong McLaren, which should adapt very well to the characteristics of the circuit and therefore take the leadership of the group behind the two teams fighting for the world championship," he added.

"We also believe that Alpine, AlphaTauri and Aston Martin will also be very competitive.

“Our main goal will be to express all the potential available and try to make the most of every opportunity. To use a football metaphor, we will try to make a good defence and hit on counter-attack."

Free practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix gets underway at 12:30pm local time on Friday.