Finally, the WEC is back, and Ferrari could’ve not hoped for a better return.
Visibly in good shape since the prologue, the Maranello team brought home a historic triple at the first season.
The verdict provided by the Qatar track is clear and is totally reversed compared to last year, where it was Porsche who made the big talk, this time visibly in trouble.
So, after a totally revised Balance of Performance, the question we ask today is the one you have read in the title: who did “homework” better during this winter break?
A look at the BoP
Always the great protagonist of the total reversal of the situation; whether you like it or not, for better or worse, this infamous tool continues to be the focus of attention.
But let’s go in order.
Last year, Ferrari and Toyota here in Qatar were undoubtedly the most penalized among the top teams: 45 kg of ballast for the Reds and 59 for the Japanese hypercars, which made them the two cars with the worst weight/ power ratio on the grid.
In addition, in a track like Qatar those extra pounds are definitely felt, not to mention the tyre management aspect.
But just think of the extra 55 kg entrusted to a novice Isotta Fraschini to understand how out of scale was that Balance of Performance, which in fact for the next race of Imola was heavily recalibrated.
This year, however, the reds have undoubtedly benefited from a more favorable BoP, being able to count on a much lower ballast (just 7 kg in total), as well as Toyota, with the GR010 Hybrid that could run with the same weight of the Porsche.
It is evident that the Balance of Performance has given a hand to the reds, not admitting it would mean being in bad faith, and it is highly likely that for the next race there will be a fatal blow on this aspect; but to say that this success is solely due to the BoP would be extremely reductive: we must not forget all the development and fine-tuning work carried out on the 499P during last season.
In addition, the gap between the top was much lower than last year, with Cadillac and BMW who entered strongly into the fight and Toyota, although not brilliant in qualifying, has shown to be always fighting for the top positions in the race; but to dispel any doubt, as always, just take a look at the data.
Ferrari shows its muscles
Only applauses for the team from Maranello, considering a year ago in Qatar the redheads were on the high seas, perhaps also because of an excessive ballast as mentioned earlier, while this year they have recovered all, hitting a historic triplet.
With a much lighter car, the 499P showed a monstrous race pace, but also some errors too.
The #51, which for long distances had given the impression of being the fastest, had to settle only for third place after the numerous penalties received, but this does not detract from the great proof of strength of the men of Coletta.
The 499P continues to grow more and more and rivals are warned: Ferrari, also this year, wants to be in the fight for the final victory.
Cadillac: the pace is there, but how many mistakes…
The American company appeared to be in good shape, especially in the early stages of the race.
You could see that in the first two hours the golden cars of Jota had the best pace of all, even better than the 499P.
Despite an error by Bamber that sent him in a spin during a lapping, the neutralizations gave a big hand to the American hypercars, finding themselves in first and second position and with the same strategy of the pursuers. In short, when they found themselves with no cars in front, the opportunity came to try to make their own pace, to increase the gap from their rivals.
Not even time to understand what was happening, and there goes the disaster: complete blackout by Lynn, second on #12, who before the restart hits Button, first on #38, forcing both to an additional stop for repairs.
Ruined race and all the good intentions thrown out the window with a surreal move, especially given the experience of the British driver.
In the end, the US LMHDs finished only in 8th and 16th place, with a huge regret.
After the mistakes of the drivers, however, even Cadillac has undoubtedly indicated that it wants to be in the game this year, confirming the good technical growth path of the project.
BMW, what a pleasant surprise
Another surprise of the day was definitely BMW, which, in addition to having confirmed the great speed on the single lap, it showed a really interesting pace even in the race, just 3 tenths from Ferrari.
The much better race management compared to Cadillac compensated for that slight lack of pace compared to the Americans and allowed them to finish as “best of the rest” behind the 499p and, at least with one car, in front of the Toyotas.
A pleasant surprise.
Toyota, don’t consider them out
Despite a colorless qualifying and an unfavorable track, as confirmed several times by the top executives of the Japanese house, the GR010 Hybrid are always there.
In Qatar they didn’t have the pace to play with Ferrari, that’s for sure, but their constant presence in top 6, despite a start from the bottom, is yet another confirmation – as if it was ever needed – of how well equipped this team is, especially in the strategic field, where often the lack of pure speed is compensated.
Porsche, disaster announced
From hero to zero for the team from Stuttgart.
Where a year ago the 963 seemed to fly, this year they have appeared to have obvious difficulties since the Prologue, and in the race it didn’t go much better; with an average pace of almost 9 tenths from the Ferrari, the #5 car defended a poor points placement, by fighting tooth and nail in short, it doesn’t seem to be a thing due solely to the change of the BoP.
Peugeot and the rollercoaster
If you are looking for the definition of inconsistency, it will probably be flanked by a photo of a 9X8.
Despite all the technical and economic efforts, the two French hypercars are not able to maintain a linear performance trend.
After the good performances of Fuji and Bahrain and with a BoP that has remained basically unchanged, in Qatar came another disappointing performance, with an average pace over 7 tenths slower than Ferrari’s.
And to think that on paper the track of Losail had to be favorable to the 9X8, which last year had sparked here proving to be almost at the level of the unbreakable Porsche.
Meanwhile, the heads of the French company are beginning to ask themselves serious questions about the project: the time available for the 9X8 to demonstrate its true value is starting to run out…
What to expect in Imola?
Most likely a heavy revisit of the BoP, which can’t be escaped, and the recent history of the championship teaches us this.
One thing is certain: Ferrari has shown its muscles and will have no intention of backing out, just like Toyota.
BMW will likely want to confirm its growth, while Porsche and Cadillac will have a thousand reasons to make amends after two disastrous performances, albeit for different reasons, and to this must be added the show and unpredictability of the LMGT3 class.
The 6 hours of Imola is likely to be a very crackling race and it will be very interesting to find out what it has in store for us.
