WEC: Ferrari's WEC Struggles - Antonio Giovinazzi Reveals Grim Outlook After Fuji Qualifying

Saajan Jogia | Sep 15, 2024

Ferrari Press Image - Ferrari Hypercar 499P #51 Antonio Giovinazzi - 6 Hours of Fuji 2024 Qualifying /

Following a poor qualifying finish at Fuji, Ferrari Le Mans Hypercar driver Antonio Giovinazzi revealed that the only option left for the team was to survive in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) race on Sunday.

What adds to Giovinazzi's fears is Ferrari's performance in its debut season from last year, where both cars finished a lap behind a triumphant Toyota. From its current form, it seems like the Italian marque could endure serious challenges again.

Giovinazzi endured a challenging performance in Saturday's qualifying, finishing 12th in the #51 Ferrari 499P Le Mans Hypercar. He struggled to keep pace, falling almost seven-tenths behind Alex Lynn, who set the fastest time in the session driving the #2 Cadillac V-Series.R. Despite pushing through the opening segment, Giovinazzi couldn't match the speed of the frontrunners, leaving the Ferrari team with work to do ahead of the race.

However, the same can't be said about the #50 Ferrari, piloted by 28-year-old Antonio Fuoco, who managed to secure a spot in Hyperpole but struggled to contend for pole position. Ultimately, Fuoco finished a distant seventh on the grid, unable to challenge the frontrunners.

Shared by Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen, the #50 car remains in the championship fight, trailing the #6 Porsche 963 trio of Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor, and Andre Lotterer by 12 points, with two races left in the season. Estre secured fifth on the grid in qualifying for the #6 Porsche, while Kamui Kobayashi placed the #7 Toyota, currently tied on points with the #50 Ferrari, in fourth.

When Giovinazzi was asked to explain Ferrari's poor performance in qualifying, he told Motorsport.com:

“Just no pace. I did the maximum I could do but the car was difficult to drive today in quali. We don't start from a [good] grid position but it's a long race so let's see what we can do tomorrow.

“It was not the pace which we had in Austin and which was better. For some reason last year, we struggled here and same this year. So it's not our track.”

He added:

“We have many cars that are better than us – BMW, of course Toyota and Porsche – so it will be a difficult race tomorrow. Let's survive and see where we will finish.”

Fuoco emphasized that Ferrari's focus should be on challenging its nearest title contenders to position itself strongly for the season finale in Bahrain this November. He said:

“As always we are here to try to do the maximum, and tomorrow we try to fight.

“Luckily the competitors which will fight for the championship are just in front of us and we [will] try to fight with them if we have the chance.”

When asked what he thought would be a good result for Sunday's race, he answered:

“Surviving. Try to finish in the top five.”

When asked if that was a realistic aim, he said:

“Not really but always we try to make it work.”