How Ferrari dominated Qatar WEC’s opener

Every of the Ferrari 499Ps that flashed previous the chequered flag nearly line astern in positions one to 3 on the Qatar World Endurance Championship curtain-raiser would have been a worthy winner. They have been separated by lower than three seconds after 10 hours of racing and any one in every of them may need come out on prime within the sprint to the end after the ultimate pitstops. However there was one factor that was by no means unsure within the desert on Friday, and that was a Ferrari victory.

The Italian producer’s Le Mans Hypercar was dominant across the Lusail Worldwide Circuit. So dominant that one of many 499Ps was in a position to struggle again from no fewer than 4 penalties to take the ultimate podium spot. Nobody else was genuinely within the sport over the course of the Qatar 1812Km, although the 2 producers closest to Ferrari on tempo didn’t do themselves any favours.

The internecine battle at Ferrari went the best way of Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina on the finish of a race that reached the 10-hour cut-off 17 laps in need of the scheduled 335. They claimed a primary WEC victory exterior of Le Mans for one of many manufacturing facility AF Corse-run Hypercar entries by simply 2.3 seconds from the client AF automobile shared by Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye and Phil Hanson. Simply 0.3s additional again in third was the second works 499P of James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi and Alessandro Pier Guidi.

As dominant as they have been, no less than the three Ferraris made a race of it over the ultimate three quarters of an hour, the gaps between them ever narrowing. When Fuoco leapfrogged Kubica within the pits with 44 minutes to go as a result of he stopped 4 laps later and subsequently required much less gasoline to go to the end, he emerged with a lead of just below six seconds. Pier Guidi, in the meantime, trailed the yellow Ferrari by 13s.

The trio of Ferraris have been on totally different tyre methods, or no less than sitting on Michelins of various age and state of wear and tear. Every was working the exhausting compound on the left and the medium on the suitable, just about the default mixture in Qatar this 12 months as soon as the temperatures had peaked a few hours or so after the 14:00 begin time. Fuoco had left aspect hards that have been now into their third stint, whereas all 4 of the tyres underneath Kubica have been being tripled. Pier Guidi, who had taken over from Calado on the ultimate cease, was given a pair new hards on the left as Ferrari as AF opted to separate the methods throughout the 2 works vehicles.

Pier Guidi was the person on the transfer, as he ought to have been with the more energizing rubber on every nook of his Ferrari, however arguably Kubica was the star. He edged in direction of the chief, who was being informed from his pit to take care of the hard-used left entrance within the ultimate laps. The client Ferrari, actually a type of satellite tv for pc works entry that doesn’t rating producers’ factors, received the hole right down to underneath three seconds with 10 or so minutes to go.

Kubica’s drawback, nonetheless, was that he now had Pier Guidi on his tail: his consideration needed to change from trying forwards to behind. He spent the final half dozen laps preventing a rear-guard motion as he efficiently strived to hold on to second place. Had the client automobile not had its mirrors stuffed with the works automobile behind it, might it have completed one thing in regards to the one in entrance? That can by no means be recognized. The identical applies to what Calado and co might have completed with out their string of penalties for varied on-track and pitlane misdemeanours.

Calado had little doubt that his automobile, that Giovinazzi had placed on pole, was the quickest of the Ferraris at Qatar. That wasn’t borne out by the averages, nonetheless. It was nip and tuck between the 2 works vehicles: on a 75-lap common it was the successful automobile that got here out on prime by a shade over 0.08s. The client automobile was an extra 0.1s again. The time misplaced to the 4 penalties — two drive-throughs and two stop-and-holds – was largely mitigated by a quartet of security vehicles that interrupted this race. However it wasn’t splendid when it comes to observe place: after the ultimate full neutralisation, Pier Guidi was down in seventh whereas the opposite two Italian vehicles sat on the prime of the leaderboard.

That Pier Guidi may need snatched it on the finish proves that the 499P was in a league of its personal at Qatar. The automobile had the sting on one-lap tempo, was no less than nearly as good as anybody else in taking care of its tyres – not an enormous issue on the ultra-smooth Lusail floor – and was fast on the all-important out-laps in lately of no tyre heaters.

The position of the Steadiness of Efficiency at any WEC race is all the time troublesome to interpret, however it must be identified that the Ferrari had shed 38kg since Qatar final 12 months

BMW had the second-quickest automobile at in Qatar. The quickest of its two M Hybrid V8 LMDhs shared by Dries Vanthoor, Kevin Magnussen and Raffaele Marciello claimed the very best of the remainder spot with fourth on the loss of life forward of the 2 Toyotas, after spending a lot of the race making up for a setback within the opening hour. Magnussen haemorrhaged time and positions after the pace limiter caught on after a primary quick-fire Full Course Yellow digital security automobile – and wanted a brand new nostril after contact because it was bundled down the sphere. Vanthoor was penalised later for contact with Fuoco, however fourth was nearly as good because it was going to get.

The Jota Cadillac squad would have been within the combine for that place with one or each of its vehicles, however for an early-race implosion. The 2 V-Collection.R LMDhs have been working 1-2 within the crocodile on the first security automobile when Alex Lynn bumped into the again of Jenson Button between the penultimate and ultimate corners because the course car ready to tug in. The crew and drivers, unsurprisingly, selected to not talk about the incident for which Lynn was adjudged to be at blame and penalised.

Why was Ferrari within the ascendent at Qatar, and by some margin? Ferrari has made a lot of its ‘no stone unturned’ method to its WEC programme because it notched up Le Mans win quantity two final June. A world championship title is now its massive objective. Nielsen touched on it post-race when he mentioned: “Thanks very a lot to the blokes for all of the work they put in over the winter.”

Unintentional pleasant fireplace wrecked Jota Cadillac’s hopes of a powerful opening displaying

Picture by: JEP / Motorsport Pictures

However it could be simplistic to counsel that Ferrari has stolen a march on its Hypercar rivals by exhausting graft. Each one has been exhausting at it for the reason that curtain got here down on the 2024 marketing campaign.

The position of the Steadiness of Efficiency at any WEC race is all the time troublesome to interpret, however it must be identified that the Ferrari had shed 38kg since Qatar final 12 months. The minimal weight allowed to the 499P was set decrease than at any time for the reason that begin of 2024. Its 1037kg restrict was comparable with the 1043kg and 1041kg at which it ran at Le Mans and Imola respectively final 12 months, one race it received and one it ought to have received. Weight takes its toll across the 3.67 miles of the Lusail circuit with its proliferation of medium to high-speed corners. Simply ask Porsche. A producer that dominated final 12 months, like Ferrari this time blocking out the rostrum positions, was nowhere this time round. The 963 LMDh was working heavier and fairly merely wasn’t a contender.

“Ferrari have been simply faster, simply higher on tempo,” was how BMW M Motorsport boss Andreas Roos summed it up. “There wasn’t so much we might do.”

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Picture by: JEP / Motorsport Pictures