By Carlo Platella
Ferrari hat-trick in qualifying at Imola, fueling the home crowd's hopes of being able to celebrate a victory for their favorites. Alessandro Pier Guidi, one of the heroes of the victory at the last 24 hours of Le Mans, hoisted the Red #51 into third position, behind the other two 499Ps. The Cavallino standard-bearer is confident that in the race the #51 will be able to leverage the best race pace expressed in practice. Attacking your teammates will be possible, without however underestimating the pace of Porsche and Toyota.
Close opponents
The WEC paddock agrees that overtaking will be difficult in Imola, an observation however that does not dampen Pier Guidi's expectations. All three 499Ps will be free to fight in the race, for a victory for which several external competitors are also aiming. “Overtaking yourself on the track is complicated”, comments Pier Guidi. “I believe though strategy and tire management will be important and the difference will be made there, not only internally, but also with others. The competition is not far away. The single lap is one thing, but in terms of race pace they have always been very consistent and fast. We will have to be careful to use all the neutralizations in our favor.”
Congratulations to Fuoco
Pier Guidi recognizes the merits of Antonio Fuoco in qualifying, with the Calabrian taking a Ferrari #50 to pole position which on average appeared more incisive on the flying lap than the #51: “Antonio is very good in qualifying, I think it's one of his best qualities. She honestly had a nice ride, nothing to say. Mine was a great ride too. In all the free practices we struggled more in the qualifying simulation, while we were more competitive in terms of race pace. Some choices we made with the set-up will pay off more in the race than in qualifying.”
The crew of #51 could have extracted a few more tenths from the set-up: “We would have liked to make a last minute change of setupbut there was no more time”says Pier Guidi. “In order not to put pressure on the mechanics we decided to stay as we were and this gave us a bit of a delay. However, Antonio did a great lap, congratulations to them.”
#WEC #Imola #Ferrari #dreams #caution #close
