Ferrari Aiming to Use Strengths Besides Straight Line Speed

Ferrari says it will aim to exploit other strengths of the 499P other than straight line speed following the introduction of Power Gain to the Hypercar Balance of Performance for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The Italian manufacturer’s car is the most affected by the introduction of the so-called ‘two-stage’ BoP in the FIA World Endurance Championship, with the 499P losing 1.7 percent of power, equivalent to 8.6kW, above 250 km/h (155.3 mph).

Ferrari head of endurance race cars Ferdinando Cannizzo made it clear he believes that the change has had a bearing on the marque’s performance at the Circuit de la Sarthe, although both of the factory 499Ps made the cut for Thursday’s Hyperpole session.

Antonio Fuoco set the best lap for Ferrari in Wednesday’s first qualifying aboard the No. 50 car, going third quickest behind the surprise pacesetter, the No. 15 BMW M Hybrid V8, and the second-placed No. 3 Cadillac V-Series.R.

The sister No. 51 car of Alessandro Pier Guidi also made the cut in sixth, although the satellite No. 83 AF Corse car of Yifei Ye was only 12th fastest.

Speaking before Wednesday’s practice and qualifying sessions, Cannizzo suggested that the Power Gain had altered Ferrari’s approach and that the Maranello brand’s focus is on trying to find speed in other areas, having proven the all-round strengths of the 499P in the opening part of the WEC season.

“Filling the performance gap is part of our work,” said Cannizzo. “We have to find the right solution to get closer to the best-performing cars. We will try to exploit our strengths and minimize our weaknesses.

“[Power Gain] is certainly important. At a track like Le Mans, we are above 250 km/h for 45 percent of the lap, so you can draw your own conclusions.

“We are driving with this power gap for almost half of the time. We lost some competitiveness; this is a fact. It has cost us competitiveness in terms of raceability.

“Now it will be more complicated in traffic, and we have to take this into account for strategy. But we have to exploit the car in this way.

“At Spa and Imola we proved that we have managed to improve in other aspects [besides top speed], so we have to use these other aspects.

“During last year and in the first half of this year, we found the strengths of the 499P, so we hope these [strengths] can be proven here as well.”

Cannizzo was also keen to highlight the importance of Ferrari switching on its tires for the out lap following tire warmers being banned at Le Mans, and said this could push the Italian marque into changing tires less frequently.

“This is fundamental,” said Cannizzo. “On the out lap, you could lose 10, 20 seconds depending on the conditions and the tire compound.

“It’s an important aspect in terms of strategy, because perhaps not changing tires gives us the possibility of returning to the track with warmer tires, resulting in not only a shorter pit stop time but also minimizing time lost on the out lap.”

Cannizzo insisted that Ferrari is well-equipped to deal with the additional pressure that comes with aiming to defend the title it won last year and entering the WEC blue riband firmly among the favorites.

“One strength of the team is not to feel this pressure,” he said. “This year there is more expectation, but it is not our first time here.

“Anything that happens outside is a distraction. The mechanics and engineers have to stay in their own world and focus on their work. A  good result is only possible if we work in the right way, without fear, nerves, anxiety.

“Last year we stayed calm when we had two difficult moments, and we won. This was a good lesson for all of us.”