The 6h of Imola will be the great Italian stage of the FIA World Endurance Championship and there will certainly be a sea of Ferrari fans ready to support the 499P.
In Qatar, the Reds' championship debut didn't go very well, but racing on the Santerno track which was the scene not only of its presentation, but also of many tests, could benefit Maranello's Hypercar.
Antonio Fuoco was present at the presentation of the race to be held at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari Autodrome on the weekend of 19-21 April and kindly spoke to Motorsport.com to take stock of the situation a couple of weeks before tricolor stage.
6h presentation of Imola
Photo by: Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari of Imola
After Lusail, what kind of work did you do?
“We have carried out some tests, in the simulator we are always looking for something to improve the set-up and software, trying to take it one step at a time”.
Did you have more difficulties than expected in Qatar, or did the others improve a lot?
“I think that from the team's point of view we did our best for what we could achieve during the weekend. There were some mistakes, but that's part of racing, I think we honestly couldn't have done more than that. others have certainly improved and the level of the championship is also rising due to the new arrivals, so you always have to be perfect and precise, making as few mistakes as possible.”
What was it like to find yourself battling against 18 other Hypercars?
“As we said even before starting the season, this year it will be increasingly difficult to score points and at the end of the championship even a single point can affect your placement in the standings. I repeat, we must always try to do our best, work on ourselves ourselves and be precise and perfect, trying to get the maximum possible points every weekend, then we'll see. The rivals are increasingly stronger and more numerous, so it's clearly tough.”
6h presentation of Imola
Photo by: Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari of Imola
How did you find the new Qualification format?
“It was like last year at Le Mans, you enter the track knowing that with every lap you always have to try to improve because the lead in Qualifying is not enough, given that after that there is also the Hyperpole session. Furthermore, you don't know how much the others can go faster and if someone is holding something in their pocket. It therefore becomes even more important to start from the front, thinking that there are 19 cars. This becomes fundamental in Imola, where traffic management will be very difficult.”
Imola is a very different track compared to Lusail, especially considering the chaos that the LMGT3s can create…
“Yes, it will be difficult because it is a very narrow track. Among other things, the GT3s have ABS and when braking it becomes harder to risk overtaking, so we will have to understand which points are where we can pass and lose as little as possible. And of course A bit of luck will also count, but the further forward you start, the better. It will certainly be a spectacular race.”
Even though there are 6 hours of battle, the Qualification will still have a specific weight…
“It becomes very important, as the whole race will be. Every tenth gained or lost in overtaking could change everything in the end.”
#50 FERRARI AF CORSE Ferrari 499P Hypercar of Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
There weren't any in Qatar, are you expecting any Safety Cars here?
“Lusail is very different compared to Imola, I believe that this time there may be some Safety Cars”.
Of your opponents, is there anyone who particularly surprised you in the first race of the year?
“Porsche has certainly made a big step forward compared to last year, but the others are also competitive as we expected, see Toyota and also the newcomers like Alpine and Lamborghini. For our part, we just have to understand how to recover the small gap we had in Qatar, we hope to be strong already in Imola, then we'll think about Spa and Le Mans.”
In 2023 you raced at home in Monza as Le Mans heroes, this year you arrive at Imola with Qatar to redeem; in Italy you always have extra pressure!
“It will certainly be a weekend with a lot of pressure, but above all also with a lot of passion. The support of the fans will be fundamental, as it was last year in Monza when they gave us an extra push. Our goal is always to give the maximum, Qatar was a difficult race, now we hope to go to Imola and redeem ourselves!”
#WEC #Fire #charges #Ferrari #precise #perfect
