Ferrari admits conservative approach at WEC Portimao

Racing and test manager Giuliano Salvi conceded that the Italian manufacturer and the factory AF Corse team could have “pushed a bit more” on the second race outing for the 499P Le Mans Hypercar despite claiming second place with the entry shared by Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina.

He explained that the cautious game plan in Sunday’s Portimao 6 Hours included the strategy on tyres, which was a reaction to high degradation experienced on the 499P’s debut in the Sebring 1000 Miles last month.

“At Sebring we were probably not nursing the tyres enough, but here at the end of the day we probably could have pushed more,” said Salvi.

“We tried not to have any kind of cliff or give-up of the tyres - the opposite approach [to Sebring] to have flat degradation.

“In hindsight maybe we went too far the other way, but every time we put the car on the ground we learn something.

Salvi confirmed that the Ferraris had raced exclusively on the medium compound Michelin tyre rather than a mix of the mediums and softs run by race winner Toyota as well as Porsche, which took the final spot on the podium.

The cautious approach in Portugal also resulted from a need to accrue miles on a design that didn’t hit the track until last July.

#50 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

“We went quite conservative because we need to put mileage on the car to learn,” explained Salvi.

“Every time we see the chequer, it means tons of data for us.

“Testing is limited, so we don't have a lot of days to spend on the track to try to improve our car.”

He also explained that there is also still a requirement to “nurse the car a bit because it is complicated and still brand new”.

The second of the two 499Ps finished sixth after encountering problems with its front-axle brake-by-wire system.

Salvi said he was confident that the car shared by James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi and Antonio Giovinazzi would have finished third without the problem.

Ferrari will move gradually towards a less conservative approach in the future, according to Salvi.

“Every time we go on track we will be more and more aggressive,” he explained.

“We know there is quite a lot of potential in the car that we haven’t unlocked yet.”

Development of the Ferrari will continue at the Spa WEC round at the end of April and then at a test on home ground at Monza in May, its final development run before the Le Mans 24 Hours in June.