During the second round of the WEC season everything seemed ready for a red celebration in the homeland. What happened on Saturday with the 499Ps starting from the first three positions predicted an important result for the Maranello cars, but unfortunately, two hours before the end of the race, everything changed. So why did Ferrari lose the 6 Hours of Imola? Together let’s try to find out, through the post-race explanation of Giuliano SalviRace and test engineer-manager of the Ferrari GT and sportscar world.
The progress of the match until the 4th hour
Taking a tour of the Fan Zone and asking the fans who would win the 6 Hours of Imola before the start, few people mentioned a car other than Ferrari. What we love most about motorsport, however, is the unpredictability and the fact that at any moment everything can turn upside down. A race is never over until it passes under the checkered flag and in the WEC stage, which took place on the banks of the Santerno, the rain factor changed all the cards on the table.
The race, from the start until around the fourth hour, maintained a regular flow. The three 499Ps on the track were dominating and fighting for the podium and victory among themselves. In the third hour of the race the discussion for first position now seemed closed to the #50 and #51, with the #83 of AF Corse having dropped in the standings due to a drive-through inflicted on Robert Kubica for not having respected the procedures during the FCY phase.
The two cars from Maranello were competing for first place, with their opponents trailing behind and forced to chase the podium. The red crowd was already trembling and anticipating a podium full of celebrations with their favorites. At the end of the third hour and the beginning of the fourth, however, a card was drawn from the unexpected deck.
Ferrari’s wrong strategy
Before the actual arrival of the water, the Toyota GR010 #7 driven by Nyck De Vries had managed to recover the two Ferraris #51 and #50 and engage them for the victory. After an FCY caused by yet another long shot from Isotta Fraschini, the Dutchman managed to overtake the red team led by Miguel Molina and get in front of the Spaniard. In fact, after the pit stop, the Red #50 returned to the top, while the #51 with James Calado had slipped to third position.
The first major shower led many to return, but not the Ferraris who thought they had everything under control. De Vries handed the wheel over to Kobayashi, who made the difference in his stint. The Japanese put the Toyota in front and also resisted until the end.
The 499Ps, on the other hand, stalled thinking they could manage the conditions better and slicks in the wet; confident that the rain would stop soon. That wasn’t the case and in the end the best Ferrari finished fourth, coming from behind, at the foot of the podium with Antonio Fuoco. The other two finished in seventh and eighth place. However, the #83 consoled itself with the best customer team award.
Toyota took advantage of the time lost by the Italian manufacturer to win. The drivers themselves, in the post-race press conference, admitted that they did not have the fastest car, but that they took the opportunity to maximize the result.
Why did Ferrari lose the 6 Hours of Imola?
After the race the protagonist of the evening became Giuliano Salvi. The race and test engineer-manager was preparing to speak in front of the newspapers present in the Ferrari hospitality – including 1000 Cuori Motor Valley – to explain what had happened.
«The information we had about weather conditions was obviously wrong. The bad weather should have arrived earlier and once it arrived the riders told us that only the last sector was critical and that they wanted to continue managing the tires like this. Our problem was to only trust the weather radar, without understanding what was really happening on the track».
«In the end the situation did not go well and at the moment I feel like saying that we need to review our communication chain. The right strategy is certainly not to point the finger at anyone in particular and even if we made a mistake today we are the same ones who won at Le Mans. Today was a clear mistake and we don’t try to hide from it».
But that wasn’t the only mistake delay the pit stopbut also do not diversify strategies between the two cars. «At the moment I cannot say whether it would have been better to follow two different strategies. We didn’t have enough time to understand it, but we will certainly know clearly what happened before Spa».
«I think that going back to dry tires at the end of the race was the correct choice because we were making up positions. Unfortunately, however, at that moment the situation was already compromised. Already tomorrow morning we will work hard to understand how to improve and be ready for the next race at 100%»
A positive look at the Imola weekend
However, it is right to also look to the positive sides of the weekend, according to Salvi. «The car has improved a lot compared to Qatar. We worked a lot on the cars and at least in the dry we were very fast. We have to start again from here. The team is still young and sometimes things even go wrong. I’m very sorry for the fans, but I’m sure we can do well in the future, continuing to work as we did before this match».
«The car was very fast, even when it started raining. The pilots were delighted with how the 499P performed. We had a similar pace to Porsche and Toyota, even if the latter surprised us. I think we were at the level of Porsche and Toyota a little behind, but in the end it is normal that they are fast as the car hasn’t changed since last year».
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