Ferrari Vows to Fight On for Title After Fuji “Nightmare”

Ferrari has vowed not to give up on its fading FIA World Endurance Championship title ambitions after what it called a “nightmare” 6 Hours of Fuji that yielded a single point.

The Prancing Horse matched the worst points haul since the 499P’s inception as it came away with a best finish across its three cars of tenth for the No. 51 crew of James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi and Antonio Giovinazzi on a weekend to forget.

That was after the more competitive No. 50 car, coming off a win at the Lone Star Le Mans round, lost any chance of a points finish with a long three-minute pit stop, due to a pneumatic leak causing the air jacks to fail, before stopping on track with a battery issue.

With Toyota claiming victory, Ferrari now trails by 54 points in the manufacturers’ standings with 88 left on the table in the remaining rounds at Barcelona and Monza, while the No. 51 crew faces a 30-point deficit in the drivers’ table with 52 left to play for.

Ferrari head of track operations Giuliano Salvi said that the nature of Toyota’s unexpected win, as it vaulted ahead of the dominant Alpines at the final stops with a strategy gamble, provides hope that large points swings could still be possible.

“Technically it’s still open, and we will keep fighting every day until it’s closed and it’s over,” Salvi told reporters post-race.

“Both [remaining] circuits should suit us better, and Monza especially, we are at home. Barcelona, we have less information but it should not be a nightmare like here.

“Here, honestly, a big hand to Toyota because they did an incredible job. Half an hour before the end of the race you didn’t expect a Toyota to be first.

“So like they were able to do this, we should be able to do that [in future races]. Toyota was also leading until 11 minutes to the end at Austin, so you never know.

“Especially going to a new track, not everybody has run here, and it’s the end of October, so you never know what happens with the weather. We never give up.”

Ferrari has never performed well at Fuji, its best result in Japan being a fourth-place in 2023, when there were fewer manufacturers in Hypercar than present.

“For sure, these slow corners in the last sector are not suiting the 499P,” said Salvi. “We go better in different speed range and curves that are completely different.

“I think with the No. 50 we tried to exploit the maximum performance, but anyway it was at the same level as BMW. Alpine, Toyota and Aston Martin were far away, in another league, but at least we were fighting with them.

“There are some things in our car DNA that you can improve but cannot completely change without completely changing the car.”

Asked if the upcoming 2027 Evo version of the 499P could be a better fit for Fuji, Salvi said that focusing too much on improving its performance at the Japanese track’s twisty final sector could compromise its performance in other areas.

“These are things on our [wish] list,” said Salvi. “But we have a lot of good things that we don’t want to waste away.

“You saw more or less we are able to cope with more or less all the WEC tracks and corners, but this kind of sector is pretty peculiar, only here. So you don’t want to focus too much on that one and ruin the rest and make it go badly in other types of corner.”

Giovinazzi also expressed optimism that Barcelona should be easier for Ferrari, adding he hopes to be able to head to the team’s home race in Monza in early November at least still mathematically part of the championship battle.

“This track has been a difficult one for us since 2023,” said Giovinazzi post-race. “We have tried so many things since then, and nothing works.

“We were missing straight line speed and the balance was not good as well. It’s not the track for us, and we lost some points to our main competitors, but it’s like this.

“Barcelona is a new track for everyone, so let’s see what we can do there, and hopefully at least we can take the championship fight to Monza.”