FIA WEC 24H Le Mans 2024 – Partiamo dalla vincitrice della 92esima edizione della 24 ore di Le Mans, la Ferrari. Arrivata alla vigilia con i favori del pronostico, nonostante avesse raccolto poco o niente nelle prime tre tappe del mondiale Endurance, è riuscita a mettere in mostra delle prestazioni degne di nota a Imola e a Spa.
The BoP was not a strongly penalizing element as was expected on the eve of the new system Power Gain which was going to hit the Scuderia on power above 250 km/h. During the tests and free practices, in fact, Ferrari had shown a good pace, with good top speeds, remaining perfectly in line with the others competitor.
Where the BoP had the greatest impact was in the qualifying phases. Indeed, if we compare the 2023 pole times with those set by Ferrari in 2024, we can notice a big chronometric difference: 3:22.982 versus 3:25.156.
La bandiera rossa a metà sessione non ha aiutato la Scuderia a gestire e preparare al meglio gli pneumatici, ma l’impressione, confermata poi da tecnici e piloti, era che non si potesse puntare alla prima fila. Tutt’altra storia in gara. Nelle fasi di asciutto, la Ferrari è risultata essere la vettura da battere. Ha preso molto presto il comando della gara, prima con la numero 50 e poi con la gialla di AF Corse, assorbendo anche in poco tempo i 10 secondi di penalità rimediati nelle fasi di qualifica, e per larghi tratti della gara è riuscita a mantenere il comando.
In the phases in which the track was made slippery by the unstable weather, however, there were mixed performances compared to the rivals. In wet conditions it was more or less in line with Toyota and Porsche's times. While in the intermediate stages of crossovers, Ferrari paid in chronometric terms, almost never managing to keep up with Toyota, Porsche and Cadillac, accumulating a strong gap which was then eliminated by long safety car of the night.
Another critical aspect of Ferrari's race was the many, too many, small inattentions which led to various penalties and unexpected stops. Fortunately, the team managed to counterbalance all these small and large setbacks with almost perfect strategic management.
Scegliendo giustamente la diversificazione delle strategie durante le fasi meteorologiche avverse ha mostrato di aver imparato una dura lezione a Imola. Ma soprattutto mettendo in mostra una grandissima lucidità nello sfruttare una situazione potenzialmente letale, come la sosta per lo sportello aperto della Ferrari numero 50, trasformandola in un’opportunità strategica risultata poi decisiva ai fini del risultato finale.
A two-sided race in which the maturity of the Maranello team prevailed and in which the only real negative note was the withdrawal of AF Corse's Ferrari number 83, which had an engine problem four hours from the end electric on the front right and had to raise the white flag.
Toyota placed second again this year. The Japanese team immediately showed a good pace, both during the tests and during the free practices, immediately applying for a leading role in the very French classic, overturning what had been the values on the field up until Spa.
Unfortunately their management of qualifying was disastrous, with the two cars out of the fight for the Hyperpole, starting from eleventh place with the number 8 and from the back of the grid hypercar with the number 7, which had all its times canceled for having caused the red flag during qualifying.
Not an easy start for the house from the Land of the Rising Sun, who were nevertheless able to use their experience to climb back up. The management of the race for them too, as for Ferrari, was two-sided. Unlike the Reds, Toyota showed all its strength during the wet and mixed phases of the race, rather than on a dry track. In these conditions they demonstrated that they have one step ahead of their competitors, making the most of the tires in wet asphalt conditions and at low temperatures.
Until the very long nocturnal phase of safety cars, were firmly in command with a considerable advantage, almost two minutes on the Ferrari number 50 and three minutes on the 51 accumulated also thanks to a good dose of luck and the tactical sagacity in knowing how to make the most of the situations of slow zone.
The neutralization therefore did not work to their advantage, but to weigh negatively on the economy of the race, there were two punctures on Sunday morning, both immediately after the pit stop, some engine problems, one stop and go agreed with the race direction and a series of errors by Lopez in the wet.
Two long ones at the Mulsanne braking section, fortunately for him without too many consequences, and the most serious one at the Prima Variante braking section which led him into a spin, losing approximately fifteen seconds, results which were then decisive for the Ferrari number 50 to be able to manage the advantage and sip the pace to control fuel consumption; which allowed her to cross the finish line with only 3% of energy remaining.
Emblematic was the radio team in the final stages of the race, in which they told Lopez that they were happy with second place and would take the car to the end. A clear sign that the small engine problems and the truly difficult track conditions forced them to be more conservative, still picking up a second and fifth place and putting them back in the running to win the world championship endurance. For Toyota, Le Mans could represent the turning point of a season which, despite the victory at Imola, did not seem to have started off on the right foot.
Off the podium we find the Porsche. Arriving as the undisputed leaders of the world endurance championship, with the largest fleet of cars on the grid, six cars, three official and three managed by private teams, credited with a favorable BoP, a lot was expected from the Porsche squadron. And instead they failed to be the protagonists of this 24 hours, showing fluctuating performances, never actually up to Toyota and Ferrari, always remaining one step behind, both in dry and wet conditions.
The perception was that something was missing, especially in the final stages of the 24 Hours. In the post-race interviews the protagonists highlighted a gap in top speed as the cause of the difference in performance experienced by the first two in the class, even if the speed trap They didn't seem to have that big of a difference in mph. What added to the disappointment at Porsche was certainly the illusion brought by a very great one hyperpole by Kevin Estre in the #6 Penske Porsche.
Estre's magic ride helped get the pole, but what gave us hope from a race perspective was their management of the tires during thehyperpole. The excellent ability to treat i compound, but above all the thermal management during the tire heating phase could represent a very powerful weapon during the French night with falling temperatures.
In part it was like this: during the first phases of the night they were the first pursuers of a Toyota that was unstoppable until neutralization. But from the morning until the checkered flag they disappeared from the radar, kept afloat only by the number 6, with the usual Kevin Estre who at the end tried to defend the third step of the podium by engaging in a beautiful duel with Pierguidi's Ferrari number 51, placing himself behind him in fourth position less than two seconds away.
It didn't go any better for the private teams, with the Hertz Jota team placing its two cars in top ten, in eighth and ninth position, still performing a semi-miracle, with the number 12 completely rebuilt in record time after Ilott's accident on Thursday. Difficult race also for the Proton team, plagued by problems.
They leave Le Mans still leading the world championship, but now with a slim advantage over Ferrari and Toyota ready to make a big statement from now until the end. In the second part of the analysis we will examine the rest of the Hypercar group, with a small point of the situation on the new BoP system.
Photo credits: Ferrari Hypercar, Porsche, Luca Cappelli