Ferrari’s Lack of Performance in Qatar “Quite Frustrating”

Ferrari has admitted the 499P’s lack of performance against its LMDh rivals in Saturday’s FIA World Endurance Championship season opener in Qatar was “quite frustrating” as it came away with a best finish of fifth place.

The Italian manufacturer’s head of endurance race cars Ferdinando Cannizzo made the remarks immediately after the Qatar 1812km as Porsche swept the overall top three at Lusail International Circuit.

Best of the three AF Corse-run Ferrari 499Ps at the finish was the third-string No. 83 car shared by Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye and Robert Shwartzman, a lap down on the winning No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport entry.

The two factory cars were classified seventh and 13th respectively after early delays, with the No. 50 car dropping back with a drive-through penalty and the No. 51 machine losing its entire rear bodywork section following contact with one of the United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 Evos.

Miguel Molina enjoyed a brief spell in the lead in the early laps in the No. 50 car, but it soon became apparent the 499P lacked the pace of Porsche and Peugeot even before the Spanish driver was penalized for cutting the white line on pit entry.

“Unfortunately, the results of the race confirmed all our predictions,” Cannizzo told reporters post-race. “We were predicting we would struggle.

“We tried everything to optimize, and on that side I think we can be quite happy because step-by-step we were able to find a setup that allowed us to double, triple-stint the tires without degradation. All the decisions to change compounds were perfectly done.

“On that side, we are very happy. On the other side, the difference in performance was so big that there was no strategy we could play to try and offset the delta in performance. It’s quite frustrating for us.

“We brought home three cars without reliability issues, even though the result is not perfect and we could have done better for sure. But not in terms of performance.”

When asked by Sportscar365 if there was any satisfaction to be taken from a top-five finish and the best of the LMH runners, Cannizzo replied: “Not really. I don’t want to try and put any sweetness on this very bitter day.

“When you are behind, you are trying to invent something. You are trying to be ready for something to happen. But there was no safety car, no neutralization, nothing. In this case the result is amplified.

“We are happy that as an LMH car we are there. But as long as we are competing with the other platform [LMDh], we want to have the same potential, let’s say.”

Cannizzo confirmed that Ferrari has a test planned between now and the Imola race – albeit not at the Italian track – ahead of its home race in April.

While stopping shy of directly addressing the Balance of Performance, he suggested that the outcome in Lusail would give the rule makers plenty of food for thought as they re-assess the situation under the revised 2024 BoP system.

“At Imola, like Qatar, the track is pretty narrow and the opportunity to overtake is not that big,” said Cannizzo. “I think it will be difficult in any case.

“It’s another track where the weight can have an impact, because you need to be able to be aggressive in the corners, otherwise you can lose a lot of time.

“We hope that the boundary conditions at Imola will be different and that we can have more potential. I think this race can give the governing body a lot of indications about what they have to do.

“Today the results were not good, but it’s for that reason that we should start screaming. We have to focus on our side, make no mistakes, keep improving the car and hoping we can have a fair race.”