Giovinazzi: No. 51 Ferrari Crew “Deserves” Big Result at COTA

Antonio Giovinazzi hopes that this weekend’s Lone Star Le Mans round of the FIA World Endurance Championship provides a chance for the No. 51 Ferrari crew to get the kind of result it “deserves” after scoring pole position.

The Italian driver led a 1-2 for Ferrari in Saturday afternoon’s Hyperpole session at the Circuit of The Americas, outpacing nearest rival Robert Kubica in the satellite No. 83 AF Corse car by 0.277 seconds.

Giovinazzi and his co-driver aboard the No. 51 Ferrari 499P, James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi, sit eighth in the drivers’ standings with just a single podium finish to their name so far with third place in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

But the ex-Formula 1 driver believes that isn’t a reflection of the performance they have showed since the second round of the season at Imola, and is hoping that pole provides the ideal platform to turn around their fortunes at COTA.

“We have showed since FP1 we had a fast car, a fast pace,” said Giovinazzi. “Yesterday [in Free Practice 2] we were P1 and this morning it was another great lap in FP3, taken away due to track limits.

“Really happy with the performance. Yesterday also the race pace was really good. So I hope we can finish the job tomorrow.

“This year the No. 51 crew didn’t deserve [the results we have had with] the pace that was in our car, so let’s turn it around tomorrow and put it all together for the race.”

Antonio Fuoco made it three Ferraris inside the top five on the grid for Sunday’s race, as he ended up fifth and 0.428 seconds away from Giovinazzi.

Looking ahead to the race, Giovinazzi added: “To have the No. 83 car beside me [on the front row] is a good thing for Ferrari, it’s an advantage for tomorrow, and the No. 50 is just there [behind].

“I think we have shown we have a fast car, but we need to be smart on strategy, let’s see what the weather will do tomorrow, and try to be smart enough and I think we can have a good result tomorrow.”

When asked about the pace differential between the two factory Ferraris, Giovinazzi put it down to superior management of his push lap around COTA.

“At this track, it’s really hot conditions, you have to try also to survive in the last sector which is really slow after a really high-speed section, to keep the rears cool and not overdrive and have a better car at the end of the lap,” he said.

“That was the strategy to be fast and I think this was the main difference.”

For his part, Fuoco admitted that he had not extracted the most from the No. 50 Ferrari in qualifying, joking: “I am human sometimes!

“First qualifying was pretty ok, and for Hyperpole we made a small change which we thought would help us but it was a bit more tricky.

“It was not one of the best laps of my career. Some days can be like this.

“The race is long, and we need to focus on that. We also know the conditions can change, so it’s important to try and get the maximum.”