Ferrari has officially lodged an appeal on the result of the 6h of Spa-Francorchamps, the third event of the 2024 season of the FIA World Endurance Championship which was held last month.
As we well know, the race was interrupted by the red flag due to an accident that occurred to the Cadillac along the ‘Kemmel’ straight, with consequent repairs to repair the extensive damage suffered by the protective barriers.
While time was ticking away on the clock, we arrived at 10′ from the conclusion which now seemed to be over in the ranking order at that moment, with the 499P ahead of everyone.
Instead, Race Direction announced that racing would resume with 1h44′ added to make up for the time lost under the red flag, effectively handing the record to Jota’s Porsche which had already made the pit stop at that moment (plus the #6 Penske official), while all the others are not.
Immediately after the race, an initial appeal regarding the episode was rejected, but in Maranello they in any case wanted to study the documents and then return to the topic, asking for clarification especially for the future.
“We first presented a complaint and then went to appeal; clearly at this stage we prefer not to speak because it is not correct to give details, as we are still in the discussion phase and awaiting the hearing date”, explained Antonello Coletta (Head of ‘Endurance and Corse Clienti) answering Motorsport.com’s question in the meeting with journalists at Le Mans.
“For us it will be very important to understand the interpretation that will be given, in order to have certainties for the future, otherwise it becomes difficult to understand what is happening.”
“We have seen various situations managed differently, as happened a few years ago at Fuji, or at Sebring. The important thing is to be certain of the rules because strategies can change during the race, some choices and so on”.
“So it’s correct to know what could happen, from there everyone will make their own reflections. Unfortunately in Spa no one would have ever imagined what would have happened from the moment of the interruption onwards; this led everyone astray, except those who had made different choices, dictated by conditions that were unsuspected at that moment for the purposes of the strategy”.
Antonello Coletta, Global Head of Endurance and Corse Clienti
Photo by: Francesco Corghi
Opening the chat in the splendid hospitality of the Prancing Horse, Coletta had however stated that he wanted to think about the upcoming 24h of Le Mans and to leave the past behind, having perhaps the most important commitment of the season ahead of him.
“I certainly arrive here still feeling a little confused and I hope that Le Mans lasts 24 hours, so at least we will have certainty regarding the race time, something that was missing in Spa. We must look forward and not complain about the past now, this is not the time and we want to think about doing well in France.”
“We are at the halfway point of the championship, there are still many races ahead of us and it is useless to think about what happened in the past, but to treasure what has been, reflecting for a long time on the mistakes made and on aspects that we were unable to manage directly, as in Spa. From now on, maximum concentration on the 24h of Le Mans and the next races”.
#WEC #Ferrari #appeal #Spa #clarity #future
