Ferrari disappointed in Fuji qualifying
Ferrari disappointed by falling far behind Toyota in the qualifying for the penultimate race of the 2023 Le Mans Hypercar Championship.
Antonio Giovinazzi, driving Ferrari's #51 car, finished sixth, 7 seconds behind Kamui Kobayashi's #1.2 Toyota, which took pole position. Nicklas Nielsen's #50 Ferrari also finished seventh, 0.1 seconds behind.
This means that Ferrari has failed to place a single car in the top three for the first time in the 2023 season.
Toyota is on course for pole position on its home turf. zamAlthough he was the favorite at the time, he was the fourth-fastest manufacturer in the standings, falling behind Ferrari's two factory Porsches as well as the sole Cadillac run by Chip Ganassi.
Ferrari driver James Calado expressed his disappointment with the team's difficulties in qualifying.
“Honestly, it was quite a surprise. “I was expecting a little better than this.” “We knew going into this weekend that we were at a bit of a disadvantage compared to Monza with what we were given, so I think that's where we really planned to be,” Calado said. Still, it was disappointing.” said.
Calado also said about qualifying: “As for my qualifying, it was a good first lap, I got into danger in the last sector, but I still don't think we can compete with the Toyotas. What Kamui did was great, it was a great tour, congratulations to them. But I'm happy with the lap, it was almost as much as the car could do, maybe one to two tenths better."
Teammate Nielsen was also upset about the 499P's lack of pace, describing the session as the "toughest qualifying" of the season for the Italian manufacturer.
“It's clear we lack a lot of pace. It will be a long race tomorrow but there is nothing we can do. "We have to try to regain some ground in the race, but it will be difficult." Nielsen said: “I think the race will be difficult because tire wear is high for us. We'll see what we can do with strategy, Fuji will give us all the help especially with the weather. zamThe moment is at play, like a little microclimate.” said.
