Ferrari “Proud” Of Fuji Efforts Despite Fading Title Hopes

Ferrari says it is “proud” of its efforts in last weekend’s FIA World Endurance Championship round at Fuji despite its title hopes in both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ races virtually coming to an end after a disappointing result.

The Italian marque’s head of endurance race cars Ferdinando Cannizzo made the remark after the best of its three AF Corse-run 499Ps, the No. 50 car of Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen, came home in ninth place in Japan.

Both the No. 51 and No. 83 cars were caught up in a second-lap accident at Turn 1, which severely compromised both cars and eventually led to the No. 51 car retiring.

It marks the lowest position that the lead Ferrari has finished in since the start of the 499P program last year, and leaves Fuoco, Molina and Nielsen facing a 35-point deficit to the No. 6 Porsche Penske crew heading into the Bahrain season finale.

However, Nielsen led the race at the halfway point thanks to a strategic gambit by Ferrari to gain track position, and Fuoco was still running fifth inside the final hour before losing positions in the closing stages.

Cannizzo said that the 499P was too weak against its rivals in terms of straight line performance to be competitive, but was satisfied to have performed better than last year’s Fuji race, which marked Ferrari’s least competitive weekend of the season.

“When the last safety car packed everyone up, it was impossible for us to defend the position,” reflected Cannizzo. “With the power-to-drag ratio and downforce-to-weight ratio we have, all the other cars could pass us easily.

“What we are proud of is the fact we played a good strategy. Having the car leading for a lot of the race was very good. If the track had been green until the end, the strategy could have worked very well.

“If you compare this year to last year, the car performed very well, I would say. In all conditions last year we were struggling. This year we were spot on. I think we were the best of all in sector one. But we lacked performance in sector two and in a straight line.

“We did well as a team with the strategy but we were not lucky at the end of the race.”

Key to Nielsen cycling to the head of the field was the fact Ferrari gave the Danish driver four new tires at the car’s second pit stop under the virtual safety car, before undercutting past the race-leading No. 6 Porsche 963 at the next pit cycle.

While the No. 50 car’s lead was relatively short-lived, Cannizzo believes that a fourth-place finish was “achievable” without the safety car bunching up the field.

Cannizzo explained: “Lacking pace, the only thing we could do is play with stint length and put on new tires when the others were on used tires – I don’t say we were much quicker [on new tires] because we were struggling to overtake other cars on old tires. But it gave us the possibility to gain track position.

“The last safety car was unfortunate. We had roughly the same tires left as the others; for the last stint we had one side new on the left. But what we gained earlier, this margin was taken away from us.”

Ferrari Needs “Miracle” in Bahrain to Rescue Title Challenge

Cannizzo admitted it was “game over” for Ferrari’s chances of clinching either championship, even if both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ remain technically open.

Even if Fuoco, Molina and Nielsen win in Bahrain from pole, even an eighth-place finish in the finale for the No. 6 Porsche would make Estre, Lotterer and Vanthoor champions.

In the manufacturers’ race, Porsche requires a fourth-place finish with either of its factory cars in the event that Ferrari scores maximum points.

“Mathematically we can do it if we finish first, second and third and the others don’t finish, but it’s done, even for the manufacturers unfortunately,” said Cannizzo.

“Of course we will try to work miracles. I am not saying we are giving up. But the chances are very poor. We need to have the car at its best, make everything perfect and put three cars on the podium to be able to win the championship.

“Definitely this race killed most of our chances to win the championship. But it doesn’t mean we will give up.”