Kubica Raises ‘Raceability’ Concerns for Ferrari 499P

Robert Kubica has downplayed the performance of the Ferrari 499P following last Sunday’s 24 Hours of Le Mans test day, raising concerns about the ‘raceability’ of the Italian car due to having the least power in Hypercar above 250 km/h.

The Polish ex-Formula 1 driver set the fastest time in the opening session of the test, and followed up with the third-fastest time in the afternoon, ending up 0.656 seconds shy of the benchmark established by Toyota driver Brendon Hartley.

Ferrari’s top representative was the factory No. 51 car in which James Calado was second-fastest, 0.531 seconds behind the No. 8 Toyota in the afternoon session.

Straight line performance was considered to be a strength of the 499P on its way to victory in each of the last two editions at Le Mans, but this year’s Balance of Performance features a wider range of Power Gain values across the board in Hypercar.

The 499P, despite having gained power from last year below 250 km/h, is the least powerful car above the Power Gain threshold with 500.1 kW, which is around 20 kW less than the most powerful car, the BMW M Hybrid V8.

While acknowledging the objective of the rule makers to balance the top speeds as closely as possible, Kubica admitted that the 499P’s relative lack of power above 250 km/h could prove to be problematic for Ferrari in a race situation.

“Looking at pure [top speed] numbers, it’s difficult to draw conclusions,” Kubica told Sportscar365. “It’s the way you get there that makes the biggest difference.

“Honestly, I am not a big fan of this big variation in power above 250 km/h. I know I am driving probably the most efficient car, but it makes life difficult for racing.

“It’s not necessarily the case that the car with the highest top speed is actually the fastest car in a straight line. Some cars have more drag but they get to the last 20 km/h much faster. This is where pure power counts, but efficiency is another factor.

“For racing, it’s a bit different, and we are the weakest on power over 250 km/h. This isn’t helping us, but on the other hand, the ACO is trying to make it as equal as possible.

“It will never be exactly the same, and with your own car, you also have to find the optimum balance between what you need and what you think makes you faster.”

On his pace in test day, Kubica said that while he was satisfied with the behavior of the No. 83 car, he noted the fact Sunday’s running took place in relatively cool, overcast conditions as potentially unrepresentative of race week.

“I am pretty happy with what I felt in the car,” Kubica said. “If this will translate into the start of the race on Saturday, I am not sure. I have seen many times that when you are in a good window on a relatively clean track, it’s not a good sign!

“I hope it is not the case. We’ll see how the track develops, and the weather. Sunday was relatively cool but now we see the temperatures ramping up. This will have a big effect.

“Based on last year’s experience, we struggled more when it was hotter with rear degradation.

“That said, we did improve the car and we understand the car better, so it will be interesting to see how we perform in these conditions. It will be a nice test to see if we really got on top of this area.”

Asked how he perceives the competition heading into practice, Kubica said he believes that LMDh manufacturers BMW, Cadillac, Alpine and Porsche will be a bigger threat than last year, when the race came down to a straight fight between Ferrari and Toyota.

“We have seen this year that the pack is quite compact, and I believe that are at least five or six manufacturers that will be very competitive, especially over a shorter period,” Kubica said.

“How the cars perform in different conditions, over 24 hours, and in different stages of the race, will vary more.

“The LMDh cars have made a big step forward since Le Mans last year. BMW last year was, I would say, one of the strongest, if not the strongest, car over one lap, and I know they have improved the car’s window over 24 hours.

“I would also expect Caddy to be competitive, we saw in Qatar they were super-competitive, and Alpine is another car that has really high potential.

“And of course, there is Porsche. So that’s already six manufacturers that should be targeting the podium.”