Ferrari loses second place in WEC Bahrain race for exceeding tyre allocation

The second-placed factory Ferrari has been penalised for exceeding its tyre allocation in Saturday’s World Endurance Championship finale in Bahrain and has dropped out of the points.

Ferrari’s #51 499P Le Mans Hypercar shared by Antonio Giovinazzi, James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi received a penalty of 4m55s for using two more tyres than the permitted maximum of 26 allowed for qualifying and the race at an eight-hour event.

The time penalty was converted to two racing laps, dropping the car to 14th in the classification, and means that Peugeot has notched up its first podium of the season.

Mikkel Jensen, Nico Muller and Jean-Eric Vergne are now classified third in the Bahrain 8 Hours aboard the #93 9X8 2024 LMH, equalling the French manufacturer's best result notched up at Monza in 2023 since its return to top-flight endurance racing in 2022.

It also means that new 2024 WEC Hypercar drivers’ champions Laurens Vanthoor, Andre Lotterer and Kevin Estre move into the points with 10th place.

Ferrari’s penalty cannot be appealed.

#51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi

Photo by: Ferrari

Hypercar tyre supplier Michelin has also been fined for not declaring the correct list of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags and barcodes 48 hours before the start of the race meeting in Bahrain as per the series rules.

These were not supplied to the organisers until 11:00 on Saturday, just three hours before the start of the race.

Michelin has been fined €15,000 with €10,000 suspended.

The French tyre company will be allowed to appeal the decision of the stewards.