Ferrari Secures Front Row at Imola 6 Hours Amid Technical Concerns
Ferrari's 499P cars demonstrated exceptional single-lap speed during qualifying at Imola, securing a front-row lockout for Sunday's FIA WEC race. However, several challenges emerged despite the strong showing.
Race car speeds on racetrack
Antonio Giovinazzi claimed pole position in the No. 51 car with a near-perfect lap, finishing almost 0.8 seconds ahead of the competition. However, two significant issues affect Ferrari's overall race outlook:
The privately-entered No. 83 AF Corse 499P required a precautionary engine change following a failure during free practice three. While Robert Kubica managed an impressive second-place qualification with the new engine, questions remain about its race performance reliability.
The No. 50 car faces a more severe setback, dropping to 18th position (last in Hypercar class) due to track limit violations during qualifying. Driver Antonio Fuoco expressed frustration about the timing of his lap deletion, which prevented him from attempting another qualifying run.
The challenging nature of Imola's tight, twisty circuit makes overtaking particularly difficult, complicating the No. 50 team's recovery efforts. While Ferrari demonstrated dominance with a 1-2-3 finish in Qatar's opening round, capitalizing on their home race advantage at Imola may prove more challenging than initially expected.
The race will test Ferrari's ability to overcome these setbacks and deliver results for their home crowd, with particular attention on their race pace and reliability across all three cars.