WEC | Ferrari Frustration: “The Final Is Already Written, We Are Powerless”

There wasn’t much for Ferrari to do at the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, the fifth round of the FIA ​​World Endurance Championship that will have to be put away as soon as possible while thinking about the next races.

This is also what the men from Maranello think, suffering greatly on the Interlagos track with a 499P on which every solution attempted to compete with its rivals did not work.

It hurts, it hurts a lot, because after the amazing success achieved at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, there was the possibility of relaunching their ambitions in terms of the World Championship and everyone at the Prancing Horse was hoping for it, but in Brazil we saw an old film with an ending already… written, as it was in Monza in 2023, for example.

This is what the top management of the Emilian company claims, having already, so to speak, ‘sniffed’ the impossibility of competing on equal terms with the others, underlining that since the simulations it had seemed evident that the South American track would not have given satisfaction given the situation of the values ​​on the field.

Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi gave it their all and the final with the knife between the teeth of the usual very bad Piedmontese saved at least the Top5, despite receiving a nice slap from Kamui Kobayashi 4′ from the end, capable of stealing fourth place from him with a Toyota that was literally flying.

The #51 499P was for a long time the best-placed and most in-form Red, despite receiving a Drive Through for a Full Course Yellow infringement, fighting for the podium which however slipped away both because of a Toyota from another planet for everyone, but also because crossing swords against all the Porsches seemed increasingly impossible.

It was no use reshuffling the strategies, mounting two hard tyres on the right side at the start, replacing them later with new mediums and then changing them on the same side with two new ones of the same compound; no way around it, the other cars were always faster and here tyre degradation had an impact up to a certain point because no vertical collapses were seen in the lap times.

“We approached this race with the aim, as always, of fighting for the best possible result. We knew that compared to some opponents we would have struggled to compete for the top positions and the race was proof of this”, highlights Pier Guidi.

Calado echoed him: “In terms of pace we were not in a position to compete for the win. The result reflects what we saw throughout the weekend and the penalty, even if it cost us seconds, was not decisive for the final result.”

Giovinazzi is already thinking about the next one: “We gave our all on this track trying to express our potential to the fullest. There is certainly some regret. Now we look forward to the next event in Austin, a race that will be essential for the championship”.

#51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

Even more in difficulty was the #50 of Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina, unfortunately for them the Ferrari crew was most entangled in traffic, exposing a disarming situation.

Molina, despite himself, was unable to pass the Peugeot after a pit stop (which in Brazil didn’t go as badly as in other races), and this was the refrain for many other situations where the Ferrari struggled to keep up with cars that were less competitive on paper, such as the Alpine and BMW.

The 6th place at the finish line means important points for them that keep their title hopes alive, but decidedly reduced if there are no changes in the next three races.

“Overall this was a difficult weekend. We have no regrets because we are aware that we gave our best and that we couldn’t have done better, considering the values ​​seen on the track over the six hours”, admits Fuoco.

Molina also agreed: “The team did a great job and we tried every solution, even varying the tyre compounds during the race, to try to express ourselves at our best, but in terms of pace we were not able to compete for the top positions. The positive note is that we obtained important points in view of the championship”.

The combative Nielsen concludes: “The weekend in Brazil was complex from the first Free Practice. After the extraordinary victory in Le Mans, of course, we hoped for a better result, but we have no regrets because we know we gave our best as a team. The points we scored with our 499Ps will still be important for the championship”.

#51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

Now the summer break, before which there will be a couple of days of testing in Austin to try out the track and also the 2025 Michelin tyres, and head to the stages of Lone Star Le Mans (at COTA, precisely), Fuji and Bahrain, where something will necessarily have to change in the values ​​on the field if we want to hope to have a series that is fought until the end and not written a priori, as the Ferrari bosses underline.

“At the end of a race like the one we experienced here in Brazil, it is difficult to find the best words to express the frustration and sense of impotence that the team felt,” are the harsh words of Antonello Coletta, Head of Ferrari Endurance and Corse Clienti.

“Despite impeccable work in the preparation of the event and during the race, it was not possible to achieve a better result on the track.”

“We knew we wouldn’t have the chance to compete for the win and unfortunately what emerged in the simulations was confirmed by what happened in the race. We hope to have the chance to fight fairly in Austin.”

Ferdinando Cannizzo, Head of Endurance cars, added: “The result of the 6 Hours of Interlagos unfortunately confirmed what we expected from the pre-race analyses, demonstrating the excellent correlation between the virtual simulations and the track.”

“Even though we maximized the performance of the package at our disposal, today the gap to our opponents was definitely too big to aim for the podium. All that remains is to look forward and hope that, in the next races, we have the possibility of being competitive.”