Ferrari closed the first round of the world resistance (WEC) 2023 with a third place finish in Sebring in the class hypercar achieved by car #50 driven by Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen. The 499P’s Maranello finished behind both Toyota and adding the podium to his pole in the classification, the result in the relaunch of the Italians in the highest category of resistance 50 years later can be valued positively: “It is a good starting point”, he sums up Miguel Molina.
“I am very happy with how we have started and I am very proud of the team’s work. It was worth it. We have arrived at Sebring and we have finished in the best possible position”, continues the Spanish rider. And it is that, the rhythm of the Toyota was unattainable for the others, and the best of the rest was the 499P #50, which was able to prevail over other rookies such as Cadillac, Porsche either vanwall and to other teams with more recent experience in the WEC, such as Peugeot and glickenhaus. “We know that the Toyotas were a step or two ahead of us at race level. You have to take out many positive things and fix the negative ones, but it is a good starting point for the future and from here to continue improving”, adds the one from Gerona in a Ferrari statement.
The next stop of the World Cup will be in Portimão (April 15-16) and it is presented as a new opportunity for Ferrari to meet the Japanese again: “It is a circuit we know, a more standard track than what we are used to. I think we have time to continue improving. This is the best possible point of departure”, closes mill.
Antonello Coletta, director of Ferrari Attività Sportive GT, joins the celebration of his drivers and points out that the result exceeds the objectives that had been set at this premiere and also to finish off the two cars (the #51 was seventh) with no reliability problems is a good sign: “We wanted a podium, and to that we added a splendid pole position. We are happy and, at the same time, aware that we still have a long way to go. In the championship, we are up against some very experienced and fast opponents and others who have recently entered the hypercar scene, like us, but just as fast. We celebrate these results by thanking the entire team for the work carried out over the last eight months, which has allowed us to race on a demanding circuit like Sebring without reliability problems”.