Two races, two undisputed domains of Toyota. Certainly more brazen than Red Bull has so far demonstrated in Formula 1. Yet it is surprising how a great debate has opened up in the world of GPs on how the hegemony of the RB19 can be stemmed, while the sensational superiority in the WEC of the GR010 is taken for granted taken for granted, as if it were obvious due to the enormous wealth of experience that the Japanese manufacturer has gained over the years in which it has raced almost alone.
The first fact that catches the eye is that Formula 1 has very prescriptive rules, but does not place restrictions on performance, so it is fair to acknowledge Red Bull that it has done a much better job than the competition, while the Endurance World Championship is regulated from the notorious BoP (Balance of performance) which should balance the performance of the Hypercars.
And, then, after two disputed appointments (Sebring and Portimao) it is right to start making assessments in view of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Before the centenary edition of the ACO race there will still be the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, scheduled over two weekends, and the Belgian race could be the right terrain in which to calibrate forces to arrive at the one-day race with balanced values.
#50 Ferrari 499P: Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
The team led by Pascal Vasselon has a technical advantage that seems unbridgeable without a corrective to the BoP: Toyota was caught off guard at Sebring by the lap of Antonio Fuoco who took pole position in qualifying with the Ferrari 499P. The start at the Cavallino pole, on his return after 50 years of absence from the premier class, had a monstrous media impact that somewhat overshadowed the excessive power of Toyota.
Toyota advantage in qualifying almost 1″5
Car | Q time |
Toyota GR010 Hybrid | 1’30″171 |
Ferrari 499P | 1’31″596 |
Porsche 963 | 1’32″404 |
Cadillac V-Series.R | 1’32″582 |
In fact, the Japanese, fearing the red, set a time of 1’30”171 in qualifying on the soft tires in Portimao, leaving the Ferrari one and a half seconds behind, with the Porsche and Cadillac well over two seconds behind. An eternity! It is true that the 499P used harder compound tires working more on the race pace, so the gap certainly could have been smaller, but the alarm among Toyota’s opponents was triggered in the first ten laps of the race, when the GR010 of Conway-Kobayashi-Lopez (owner of the fastest lap of the race on lap 3 in 1’32”135) that the sister car, then victorious with Buemi-Hartley-Hirakawa imposed an unsustainable pace for everyone.
Car | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 |
Toyota GR010 Hybrid |
1’33″713 | 1’32″710 | 1’32″135 | 1’32″421 | 1’32″481 |
Ferrari 499P | 1’35″001 | 1’33″734 | 1’33″940 | 1’34″340 | 1’34″036 |
Porsche 963 | 1’36″500 | 1’34″351 | 1’33″956 | 1’34″351 | 1’34″367 |
Cadillac V-Series.R | 1’38″403 | 1’35″641 | 1’34″346 | 1’34″466 | 1’34″378 |
Analyzing the race, it is natural to think that Toyota feared the potential of a Ferrari that seemed to have covered itself up, because the Japanese left the field open to their crews who started the 6 Hours with a pace that broke the backs of their rivals in the top ten passages, just long enough for the Japanese wall to convince himself of the opponents’ inability to keep up and “advise” his pilots to reduce their pace due to obvious superiority.
Car | Round 6 | Round 7 | Round 8 | Lap 9 | round 10 |
Toyota GR010 Hybrid |
1’32″729 | 1’32″845 | 1’33″131 | 1’34″364 | 1’33″964 |
Ferrari 499P | 1’33″948 | 1’33″829 | 1’33″946 | 1’34″227 | 1’35″681 |
Porsche 963 | 1’34″111 | 1’35″195 | 1’34″523 | 1’34″793 | 1’36″268 |
Cadillac V-Series.R | 1’34″318 | 1’34″979 | 1’34″725 | 1’35″073 | 1’36″254 |
But you don’t have to be an insider to understand that in the start of the race Toyota lost its foot, fearing a Ferrari that wasn’t there. The team from Maranello is growing and adds a prestigious place of honor to third place in America. But the second place of Fuoco-Molina-Nielsen is the result of the GR010’s fifteen-hour stop in the pits (7 laps) for the replacement of the entire left rear corner due to the failure of the FIA torque sensor on the axle shaft.
![The Toyota GR010 - Hybrid victorious at Portimao with Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa](https://cdn-6.motorsport.com/images/mgl/6xEmM7J0/s1000/8-toyota-gazoo-racing-jpn-toyo-1.jpg)
The Toyota GR010 – Hybrid victorious at Portimao with Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
The race direction forced the #7 Toyota to return to the pits for replacement, but the damage did not depend on the car, but on the blackout of the federal control system which prevented a Japanese one-two. The Vasselon team demonstrated the incredible efficiency achieved in a repair done in record time.
Top speeds in Portimao
Car | Maximum speed km/h |
Toyota GR010 | 316.7 |
Ferrari 499P | 315.7 |
Porsche 963 | 312.1 |
Cadillac V-Series.R | 316.7 |
The FIA and the men of the ACO will have to re-read the data carefully if they don’t want a 24 Hours of Le Mans with two Hypercars doing a solitary race, with the others separated by many laps. Because the second (but the average gap in the initial rush was much greater) on a short circuit like Portimao becomes more than three on the Sarthe track.
The legitimate question to ask is whether the BoP that has come into operation in Portugal, different from the initial one in Sebring, is congruous. Judging from the analysis of times and performance, one could say that he hit the target with everyone, except with the Toyota, a car that can be defined as… out of competition.
Here is the Bop expected up to Le Mans
Car | Weight kg | Power kW |
Toyota GR010 Hybrid |
1.043 | 512 |
Ferrari 499P | 1,040 | 509 |
Porsche 963 | 1.045 | 516 |
Cadillac V-Series.R | 1.035 | 516 |
The GR010 weighs 3 kg more than the Ferrari, but the Toyota has more power: 512 kW compared to the 499P’s 509. The feeling is that the Japanese car can afford more loaded aero settings by being able to expend more horsepower. This without stressing the tyres: it seemed quite evident that the redhead and, in general, the pursuers were forced to reduce their pace to avoid an extra pit stop, a sign that the championship leader boasts an indisputable performance advantage.
![#6 Porsche Penske 963](https://cdn-5.motorsport.com/images/mgl/0a9PKwN0/s1000/6-porsche-penske-motorsport-po-1.jpg)
#6 Porsche Penske 963
Photo by: Paul Foster
![#2 Cadillac V-Series.R](https://cdn-2.motorsport.com/images/mgl/6VRq7446/s1000/2-cadillac-racing-cadillac-v-s-1.jpg)
#2 Cadillac V-Series.R
Photo by: Paul Foster
And, if we want to say it all, it would be right to find a more effective equivalence between the LMh and the “American” LMDh: Porsche won the first race in the IMSA race in Long Beach with the 963, while the same car of the Penske team in Portimao she finished third, but one lap behind Toyota.
More was expected from Cadillac, which remained off the podium: the V-Series.R of dubbings suffered two. Having got the wrong strategy, he also risked being rear-ended by a Peugeot which, with Glickenhaus and Vanwall, at the moment seems to be out of the game for the positions that count. The French have to wake up because Le Mans is just around the corner…
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