Laurent Mekies: "I wouldn't say we're in no-man's-land. We're fighting with the top four (teams), but we can't compete for the podium at every circuit. In Canada and Monaco we could fight for the podium, but that wasn't possible here. That's the honest picture.
Still, before that late drama we were able to beat one Ferrari and one McLaren. That was the best we could do.
I think we expected that reality check in Barcelona. This was the first circuit with a long straight and medium- and high-speed corners after the weekends in China and Japan.
So we certainly expected a different performance compared to Monaco, where we suddenly could fight for pole position. I think this weekend confirms the progress, because we're talking about three or four tenths behind the polesitter, or three or four tenths needed to fight for the victory.
That was definitely a very different picture at the start of the year on these kinds of circuits. There is still a gap, without a doubt, both on the power unit side and the chassis. That's what we have to fight for now. It's no longer about one single thing. It's about finding a bit of performance in medium- and high-speed corners and on the straight, etc."
https://x.com/RBRHub/status/2066202361106948181?s=20
3-4 tenths deficit for wins seems a bit optimistic, but we'll see on other tracks.
