By Carlo Platella
The conditions for a Ferrari-led qualification were already seen on Friday, but it was difficult to imagine such a superiority of the 499P in front of the home crowd, which monopolized the first three positions on the starting grid. The hero of the day is Antonio Fuoco, who leads his teammate Pier Guidi by more than four tenths, confirming himself as a flying lap specialist. The Apulian was supported by the strategy developed by the team, which by preparing the tire as best as possible allowed the Maranello Hypercar to express itself at its best.
The key
“The sensations were positive already from free practice”comments Antonio Fuoco at the end of qualifying. “The ride was special. Racing in front of our fans always gives us an extra boost.” Since its birth, the 499P has presented itself as an incisive car on the flying lap in qualifying, a quality which, however, has struggled to emerge in recent months and not only due to the evolution of the Balance of Performance.
In the absence of tire warmers, warming up the tire is one of the decisive phases in qualifying, where Porsche had excelled in Qatar. Warming up the tire was particularly complicated in Imola, on a low-energy track which slows down the temperature. However, Ferrari was not caught unprepared, aiming for a different approach compared to the feared Porsches. “Going out on cold tires is difficult,” says Fire. “Already this morning we had decided to do two warm-up laps, while Porsche pushed first. We tried this strategy in the last free practices and then we did it again in qualifying.”
Qualifications
Thanks also to the tire preparation, Ferrari had no problems gaining access to the Hyperpole. However, two minutes before the end of the first qualifying session, the BMW #15 went off the track and caused the red flag to be displayed. When the session resumed, Fuoco wanted to get back on track, even though he was now sure of qualifying: “I wanted to have the right feeling that I was still missing in a couple of corners and I used the time to get back on the track and gain confidence in view of the Hyperpole”.
Even in the decisive session there was no shortage of variables, including the display of the yellow flag for the Toyota’s spin at Tosa. An unexpected event that the Ferrari fans took as an opportunity: “Our plan was to keep pushing,” says the Apulian. “When we saw the yellow flag we decided to slow down a lap to cool the tires and then try again”.
Towards the race
The hat-trick in qualifying lays out excellent conditions for the Cavallino ahead of the race, in a race that is difficult for overtaking, but therefore also more risky in the lapping phases. “The most difficult thing will be traffic management”reflects Fire. “With overtaking it will be very tough and we will have to be very careful on the outgoing laps with cold tyres. It will be a defensive game at the start. We will need to be patient and then attack more towards the end.” Finally, the poleman reassures the fans that the three 499Ps will try to control the race at the start rather than battle in turn 1: “There will definitely be no problems between us. Between tonight and tomorrow we will also talk about this.”
