How Ferrari is dealing with its worst qualifying result so far in the 2023 World Endurance Championship (WEC) and how James Calado explains this weakness
For Ferrari driver James Calado, the qualifying result in Fuji with a gap of over one second is “a surprise”. After all, Ferrari had not presented itself this badly in the 2023 World Endurance Championship (WEC) so far.
Calado, in the best of the two Ferrari 499P LMHs, could only manage sixth in qualifying for the penultimate round of the season, 1.2 seconds behind the 50 sister car was a further tenth of a second behind in seventh. So, for the first time in 2023, Ferrari failed to get a car into the top three.
Toyota were favourites, but …
While Toyota were always favourites for pole position on home soil, Ferrari also qualified behind the two factory Porsches and the only Cadillac entered by Chip Ganassi, making them only the fourth fastest manufacturer in the pecking order.
Calado expressed disappointment at Ferrari’s difficulties in qualifying, saying the team was even further behind than he had expected compared to the recent Monza race in July.
“We had guessed before the weekend that with our material we would fall behind a bit compared to Monza. Still, it’s disappointing,” Calado says.
How much Calado had left in his lap
“I had a good first lap myself, but got held up in the last sector. Still, it probably wouldn’t have been enough to take on Toyota. Kamui did something magical there, a really great lap that you have to congratulate him on.”
He was “pleased” with his lap, Calado continued. “That was almost the maximum of what the car can do. Maybe another tenth or two would have been possible.”
Nielsen, whose teammate Fuoco has taken two pole positions for Ferrari so far in 2023, was also disappointed with the 499P’s lack of performance, describing the session as the “most difficult qualifying” of the season for the Italian manufacturer.
Ferrari chances in the race only via strategy?
“It’s pretty clear that we’re missing a lot of pace,” he explained. “It looks like it’s going to be a long race on Sunday, but there’s nothing we can do about that. We have to try and make up some ground in the race, even if it’s going to be difficult. “
Calado is equally pessimistic about Ferrari’s chances on Sunday and believes tyre wear could be a deciding factor in the six-hour race if it stays dry.
“We will see what we can do with the strategy. Fuji always plays tricks on us, especially with the weather, it’s like a little micro-climate,” said Calado.
Ferrari misled by the weather?
Mauro Barbieri, meanwhile, as Ferrari’s head of performance and simulation, says there are a number of reasons for the poor qualifying performance. “It’s mainly due to small details, the composition of the lap, the right preparation.”
“These details are not implemented correctly every time. That’s something we can learn from and improve as a team.”
The construction sites in the specific case? Barbieri: “The weather conditions were unpredictable and that may have led us to make some set-up decisions that didn’t pay off in dry qualifying.”
“Every rider would say they could have improved by a tenth or two in qualifying. If you put all these things together, you can explain the big gap to P2.”
“If you look at the gap to P1, we have to congratulate Kamui because he did an excellent job and probably drove the perfect lap. “
How Ferrari can still become world champions
Ahead of Sunday’s race, the Ferrari of Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi and Alessandro Pier Guidi sits third in the championship, 23 points behind the 51 Ferrari team needs to be within 39 points of the leader Toyota to still be in the title hunt ahead of the season finale in Bahrain in November.
Another seven points behind the sister car is the second Ferrari with Nielsen, Fuoco and Miguel Molina in fourth place in the standings.
