Ferrari still has tyre degradation lessons to learn ahead of Portimao WEC

The Italian manufacturer remains on a steep learning curve despite undertaking more than six months of testing with the 499P, according to sportscar race and testing manager Giuliano Salvi. 

Salvi explained that a winter test programme will always leave question marks about tyre management because it is not undertaken in the same conditions that the car will race.

“When we were developing the car most of the time we were not in the right temperature window and the tracks were not rubbered-in properly because we were the only team on track,” he told Autosport.

“We started testing in July, but I would say until October it was like bench testing, working on systems and controls. 

“When we started to have a proper racing car it was already winter time.”

Salvi explained that testing alone on track resulted in another factor in Ferrari’s lack of consistency, particularly over a double stint on a set of Michelins, at the 2023 WEC opener at Sebring last month because it “provides no reference”.

“You have a certain amount of deg, and you say, is that coming from us badly managing the tyres or is coming from these tyres on this track layout?

“Tyre deg is relative and we were developing the car alone, so we couldn’t understand if we were in the right window.”

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

Photo by: Paul Foster

New rules in the WEC this year have banned the pre-heating of tyres, which makes rubber warm-up on track critical. 

Antonio Fuoco’s shock pole position at Sebring aboard the #50 499P and his pace in the opening couple of laps of the race suggested that Ferrari and the factory AF Corse team rhad got on top of the latest regulation.

Asked if this possibly compromised the car’s consistency over a stint, Salvi said: “We found it really easy to go quick in that aspect and in our post-Sebring analysis we found we could have done some choices in terms of set-up to be in a better window [for consistency over a stint]. 

“Probably the fact that we developed [the car] around winter time meant we concentrated more on this aspect because we were testing in December, January and February.

“It was not that we wanted to be the king of qualifying; it was just that the car was like that. 

“Now we are looking to be more competitive in the races.”

The comments from Salvi came before qualifying for Sunday’s Portimao 6 Hours when the Ferraris trailed Brendon Hartley’s pole-winning Toyota by nearly 1.5s.

Salvi stressed that a lack of pace over a stint did not fully explain the two-lap gap at Sebring between the #50 Ferrari Fuoco shared to third place with Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen and the Toyota GR010 HYBRIDs that finished 1-2.

“The difference was not just tyre management: naturally we made mistakes in pitstops and on strategy - we did a lot of things that we could have improved,” he said. 

“We went to Sebring to show our reliability and that one was a target achieved - two cars they saw the chequered, was extremely important.

The Portimao 6 Hours, round two of the 2023 WEC, starts at 12:00 local time.