Ferrari prepares for ‘race for survival’ after tough qualifying in Fuji

Antonio Giovinazzi believes Ferrari can best hope for “survival” in Sunday’s World Endurance Championship race in Fuji after a tough qualifying for the two works teams.

Giovinazzi struggled to a twelfth-place finish in the opening segment of qualifying on Saturday in the #51 Ferrari 499P Le Mans Hypercar, with a pace almost seven-tenths slower than that of Alex Lynn in the #2 Cadillac V-Series.R.

The sister Ferrari, number 50, driven by Antonio Fuoco, did indeed achieve Hyperpole, but the 28-year-old driver was never in contention for pole position and finished a distant seventh on the grid.

Ferrari struggled in its debut season at Fuji Speedway last year, with both cars finishing a lap down on the winning Toyota. Giovinazzi fears the Italian marque could face another frustrating result on its return to the 4.5km circuit.

Asked to explain Ferrari’s poor performance in qualifying, Giovinazzi told Autosport: “Just no pace. I did the maximum I could, but the car was difficult to drive today in qualifying. We’re not starting from a (good) starting position, but it’s a long race, so let’s see what we can do tomorrow.

“It wasn’t the pace we had in Austin and that was better. For some reason we struggled here last year and this year too. So it’s not our job.”

He added: “We have a lot of cars that are better than us – BMW, Alpine, of course, Toyota and Porsche – so it will be a difficult race tomorrow. Let’s survive and see where we end up.”

The #50 Ferrari, driven by Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen, is battling for the championship. The trio is 12 points behind the #6 Porsche 963 of Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and Andre Lotterer, with two races remaining.

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

Photo by: Andreas Beil

Estre qualified the #6 Porsche in fifth place, while the #7 Toyota team, which has the same points as the #50 Ferrari, finished fourth in the hands of Kamui Kobayashi.

Fuoco said Ferrari’s aim must be to take on its biggest title rivals to put itself in the best position for the season finale in Bahrain in November.

“As always, we are here to try to do the maximum, and tomorrow we will try to fight,” he said. “Fortunately, the competitors who will fight for the championship are right in front of us and we (will) try to fight with them if we have the chance.”

Asked what a good result would be for Ferrari on Sunday, Fuoco said: “Survive. Try to finish in the top five.”

When asked further if that was realistic, he added: “Not really, but we always try to do something about it.”

Additional reporting by Gary Watkins