Nasr: Porsche “Still Learning” Updates in Sebring “Unknowns”

Photo: Jurgen Tap/Porsche

Felipe Nasr believes Porsche Penske Motorsport has a “good baseline” to work with entering this weekend’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, which will be, for nearly all GTP competitors, a “bit of an unknown” given the track’s evolving characteristics coupled with updated cars and Michelin’s new-for-2026 Pilot Sport Endurance tire.

The Brazilian, who is fresh off his third consecutive overall victory in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, will be seeking back-to-back Sebring wins in the No. 7 Porsche 963 he’ll again share with Julien Andlauer and Laurin Heinrich.

While momentum is on Porsche Penske’s side, the Florida airfield circuit will present new challenges in being the first true road course that the 963 will compete on with its heavily updated aero package, which debuted at Daytona.

“We had the chance to test at Sebring a couple weeks ago and I thought the car was pretty good,” said Nasr. “We had to make some adjustments to our reference setup that we had as we raced last year.

“It’s all in a good way, but I would say [it] just gave the car a better window in terms of balancing out the medium to low-speed corners a little bit better.

“But again, it’s always one thing when you test and it’s one thing for the race week and the track gripping up. And the transition from day to night. That’s always a bit of an unknown.”

Nasr also pointed out Michelin’s new GTP tire, which also made its debut at Daytona with the Medium and Soft compounds, with the Medium compound set to be used exclusively in the 12-hour race.

“We are still learning about the new tire, especially the warm conditions,” he said.

“I would say Daytona was mostly transitioning from not so high temps to medium temperature. So, I feel like it’s all in a good window.

“I think we learn a lot in that test. I won’t say we’re fully happy with the car, but we definitely have the race weekend there to learn,

“[Sebring] changes a lot, especially the grip level that builds up over the weekend. I feel like we’re in a good baseline to start and take it from there.”

When asked to expand on the new tire’s characteristics, Nasr

“I’ve been seeing the warm-up has been better everywhere since we got this new Michelin tire, which is a big benefit and something we drivers also have to adjust to,” he said.

“Although it’s better, we also get need to get used to it. What I mean is get the… most of the tire, even though they’re still cold and that’s what I see all the time in GTP.

“That’s where drivers make a difference. It’s extracting the tire.

“The out laps are still pretty significant in terms of gaining a position or not. There are all those things to practice on race weekends.

“But it’s still a pretty good positive with the tire. I also felt the durability of the tire was quite good, looking back at Daytona.

“But like I said, Sebring is a completely different running through the day. It’s much longer than to Daytona characteristics in the way you stress the tire, the way you load the tire is so different.

“In that point, I think we’re still learning, but I felt like we had a good baseline.”

Penske Racing President Jonathan Diuguid, meanwhile, believes both the updated aero and new tire will be a benefit for the team as it seeks its second consecutive Sebring win.

“The evolution of the 963 has improved on bumpy circuits,” he said.

“The Michelin tire is also an improvement over last year, so I expect to see more fighting in the heat of the day and less people riding around because the tire has definitely improved in the hotter temperatures.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John