Best time in free practice for the Ferrari #50
Among the protagonists expected at the six hours of Imola, the second round of the 2024 WEC championship, there is obviously Ferrari which is contesting its true home race, a few kilometers from its headquarters in Maranello. On the first day of free practice, the Ferrari 499P #50 made a good impression, occupying the top positions in the rankings of the two test sessions, second in FP1 and first in FP2 with the best time of the day set by Fuoco in 1:30.957. A concrete demonstration of the excellent feeling that the car and drivers are finding for this event. The trio composed of Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Niklas Nielsen he was on various occasions last year the fastest at least in qualifying compared to his teammates Giovinazzi, Pier Guidi and Calado, but he collected less under the checkered flag. It is therefore logical that the #50 trio has legitimate ambitions to do well in the Imola race.
The statements Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina
We gathered in the Imola paddock the impressions and ambitions of Fire and Molinawho after the difficult opening race in Qatar, showed excellent speed during free practice on Friday.
Antonio, how do you evaluate your first day of free practice?
“Today we worked mainly on the balance of the car and I must say that I felt quite good with my car. As always we started with new tires to then see the behavior on the race pace. In general we are satisfied with our performance even if we know well that our opponents have not yet shown their full potential.”
Often you are the driver of your team who is chosen to run the last stint of the race. Is there a reason?
“It's true, in Qatar at the first race of the season and in last season's races I was always the driver who drove in the last stint of the race but I can't tell you why the team always made this choice. For me it makes no difference to drive in the initial, middle or final phase of the race. Every time I go to the track I still give 100%. With my teammates (Miguel Molina And Niklas Nielsen ed) we form a very well-balanced team in the various phases of the race. Molina is a rider who is able to recover many positions at the start for example, Niklas on the other hand is very good at managing the tires in the central phase of the race. My task as the last member of the team is obviously to attack.”
How do you decide who should compete in the decisive phase of qualifying, also called Hyperpole?
“Deciding which of us should compete in qualifying is not complicated because what interests us is only that our car qualifies as far ahead as possible. If I don't feel totally at ease on a particular track, I have no problem handing over the car to others in qualifying and vice versa, we are very open about this aspect. We six Ferrari drivers are a very united group also because we have known each other for a long time. Recently on my phone I found a photo from 2011 of me and Niklas competing in a kart race together. I think when Antonello Coletta deciding how to divide the two trios didn't take too much effort because the six of us have been really close since the GT days and we train together continuously. We are not jealous of each other and we spend much more time together than with our families in the end. We don't even need to talk to each other too much because from our facial expressions we immediately understand what's on our minds.”
Miguel Molina for his part, he has a great desire to make up for it after the difficult performance in the opening race in Qatar, where he and his crew finished in sixth place.
Miguel, what is your opinion of your first race in Qatar?
“The Qatar race for me was one of the worst and most difficult since I raced with the Ferrari 499P. However, I learned a lot from that race and we still took home some useful points for our championship. In terms of performance in Qatar we believed we could do much better but it went the way it went and now we look to the Imola race where I believe we can do well.”
Are the reductions granted by the Balance of Performance review, combined with the power increases, noticeable after the first qualifying session?
“Yes, you can feel that in terms of performance the car is lighter. We are all quite close now after the interventions on weight and power by the Federation. Among the opponents for Sunday's race I definitely see Toyota which is always the team to beat because it has the best car and we are more or less at the same level as last year's BoP.”
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