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Motorsport

Ferrari explains where Toyota gained the upper hand in Imola WEC opener

Toyota Ferrari Imola (Facility) Antonio Fuoco Miguel Molina Nicklas Nielsen Alessandro Pier Guidi Antonio Giovinazzi James Calado

Ferrari identified traction and tyre management as the key areas where Toyota gained the upper hand in the World Endurance Championship's Imola opener.

Although the Italian manufacturer arrived at its home race without considering itself the favourite, it still emerged as Toyota’s main challenger in the Hypercar class.

The duel between the two manufacturers played out from the very start and developed into a strategic and technical contest, with Ferrari holding a 1-2 early on before Toyota made a decisive break in the third hour.

While Ferrari matched Toyota for outright pace at times, particularly in clean air, two key areas proved decisive in its defeat at a track where overtaking is notoriously difficult.

Due to relatively poor acceleration, Ferrari struggled to stay close enough to mount attacks, particularly on corner exits.

Tyre behaviour was the other defining factor. Toyota’s ability to extend stints, most notably by triple-stinting a set of tyres, gave it a strategic advantage over Ferrari.

That strength was further amplified during a virtual safety car period, when Toyota capitalised on track position and tyre strategy to seize control of the race.

Despite securing pole position and finishing second with the #51 crew, Ferrari acknowledged that, given the circumstances, it had extracted the maximum possible result at Imola.

#51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi (Photo by: FIA WEC / DPPI)

"I think these are good points. A second-place finish today and the point for pole position at the start of the championship is definitely positive. We know that consistency is the key to this championship," said Alessandro Pier Guidi, who finished second in the #51 Ferrari 499P LMH he shares with James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi.

"Obviously, we wanted to win at Imola, in front of our fans - that’s undeniable. But I believe we gave it our all to do so. Maybe we weren’t unlucky, but Toyota was certainly lucky with the virtual safety car, which allowed them to change tyres for free, but that’s part of racing. These things are unpredictable.

"I don’t think we could have done better. Then, when you’re behind on this track, with our car’s lack of acceleration preventing us from staying close to the Toyota, it was difficult, and overtaking was impossible. It’s not that we didn’t try; on the contrary: I tried for an hour and a half, and the only result was increased wear on the rear tyres.

"That’s because I stayed close to the Toyota for so long, then ‘Giovi’ tried it for another hour. But if we consider that he had new tyres while Toyota was on its third stint on the same set… You realise just how practically impossible it is to overtake here. I think in the end we did what we could.

"I’ll say it again, we lacked a bit of acceleration; I don’t think there’s anything else in particular to highlight. We need to figure out what it was, but just as people could see the situation on the screens, we saw it from the cockpit too. Under acceleration, Toyota gained several meters of an advantage, which then allowed them to defend very well at the end of the straight."

#50 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen (Photo by: Roberto Tommasini / NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The sister #50 Ferrari shared by Nicklas Nielsen, Miguel Molina and Antonio Fuoco endured a more difficult race, with a drive-through penalty for a yellow flag infringement dropping it out of contention and limiting it to sixth at the finish.

"A little rain was expected, but in the end there was very little. Aside from that, we couldn’t have hoped for it. We knew from the start of the weekend that it would be a tough race," said Fuoco.

"The most frustrating thing is not being able to compete in acceleration with our main rivals; we couldn’t overtake, and there were few overtakes during the race, so that’s a shame.

"The hard thing to understand - even though it’s really not hard at all - is how one of our rivals [Toyota] had absolutely no tyre degradation. They did three stints on one set of tires. So it’s pretty clear what the factor is.

"Acceleration was the problem. Once you lose those 20 meters, you can’t make them up. On our end, we were very happy with the balance; especially on a clear track, we showed we had good pace when pushing to the limit. But when we got close to a car, we couldn’t stay in its slipstream during acceleration, and at that point, it’s impossible to overtake. We would have had to go even further than necessary to pass: maybe it works out, but if it goes wrong, you get zero points."

#50 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen (Photo by: Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images)

Ferrari's team manager Giuliano Salvi felt Toyota did a better job in terms of race and tyre management.

"In the race, Toyota, in the long run, proved better at managing fuel consumption when we were on equal footing," he admitted.

"We need to analyse what happened, but it must also be said that they were much better at pulling off the triple stint on the same tyres. At one point, they even seized the opportunity to pit during the Virtual Safety Car. It was a winning gamble, so kudos to them. When you find yourself behind, you try to do the opposite to gain position. Finding themselves in front after the VSC, they then had a clear track to control the situation.

"We had also considered doing the triple stint, but at the start we didn’t need to take any risks because we were in the lead, whereas they did it while trailing. We gave it our all, but we knew Toyota would be superior."