Ferrari takes the top three places at Imola: «we're not the favourites», says its driver

The defending champion team is cautious ahead of the first round of the World Endurance Championship.

It's the winner's curse. Last year's winner of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Ferrari is the object of much attention as the 2026 season approaches.

«We're not the favourites,» says Miguel Molina, driver of the No. 50 499P, a few hours before qualifying for the 6 Hours of Imola, the opening round of the campaign. Program boss Antonello Coletta is less clear-cut: «I don't know if we're favourites, we're convinced that this season is a reset of the counters for everyone».

However, after the first tests, all the indicators were in the green. The Ferraris took the top three places in the Prologue, the all-comers« test day held on Tuesday. The same result could be read on the circuit's screens during free practice on Friday morning. "We
We did qualifying simulations,» says Ferdinando Cannizzo, the team's technical director. The three cars were less clearly in the front row in the afternoon.

Car (almost) unchanged

You don't change a winning team. The 499Ps may sport a new livery, but they're identical to last year's models. Or almost. Like all Hypercars, the Ferrari was re-evaluated this winter in the Windshear wind tunnel in the USA. The team made a number of minor adjustments in line with the new aerodynamic measurements taken by the organizers. «But in terms of driving, the car is
almost identical to last year,» confirms Alessandro Pier Guidi. «The correlations with what we saw on the simulator are good,» adds Ferdinando Cannizzo, chief engineer.

In the meantime, BMW, Cadillac and Toyota have made bigger changes to their cars. Will driving a well-known 499P be an advantage at the start of the season? If they've made changes, it's logically to correct a weak point,« smiles Alessandro Pier Guidi. So I'm expecting stronger competition.

First positive signs

After the cancellation of the opening round in Qatar in mid-March, Ferrari repeated its routine on the Romagna circuit. That was during a closed practice session two weeks ago. «This also partly explains why we were so quick in the Prologue,» explains Alessandro Pier Guidi. Last year, the n°51 won on this track. Our 499P is at ease on vibratory surfaces,« explains Alessandro Pier Guidi, "and we're very happy with it.
bumps suit us well. I think that's the main explanation... Even if I've never ridden the others...
cars». «We're delighted to be at the front, but what counts is Sunday's result,» says Antonello Coletta.

New erasers

There are still a number of unknown factors. Ferrari, for example, has to adapt to the new tire range supplied by Michelin. The new tire is better in terms of warm-up,« says Alessandro Pier Guidi, driver of the #51 car. But we still need to know more because we haven't done many kilometers with the new compounds». The new range will work differently,« explains Pierre Alves, endurance manager at Michelin Motorsport. During recent tests, we saw the soft tire work up to track temperatures of 25 to 27°C. It's going to become a real choice for racing, whereas medium tires have been the teams» default choice until now.

Mistakes to avoid

This could open up the game of strategy throughout the season. Since the start of the Hypercar program, it has not always been easy to turn the 499P's pure speed into a positive result at the finish. This was particularly true at Imola.

Two years ago, the Ferrari AF Corse team made a number of tire selection blunders in a downpour. Last year, Antonio Fuoco had his best qualifying laps cancelled for biting too hard on the kerbs. The second official car, n°50, was pushed back to last place on the grid. After starting in last place, its driver, Nicklas Nielsen, was forced to make a series of overtaking maneuvers at the start of the race to climb back up the field.

«From the outside it looked easy, but it's very difficult to overtake at Imola. In Turn 1, an opponent can easily release the brakes and block the way... I'd really like not to have to do the same thing this year».

«There are still a few things we could have done differently, especially in the decision-making chain,» explained Antonello Coletta, Ferrari's endurance program boss, this winter. It's all about being faster when the safety car comes on track and you have five seconds to decide on a strategy that changes all the projections for the following hours". Speed on the track isn't the only thing that counts.

Silence on the performance scale

The Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) have decided to stop
provide information on the Balance of Performance (BoP), responsible for balancing the potential of the cars in the Hypercar category.

Mass, available energy and corrected power will no longer be published before the races. «The performance potential of the cars is reassessed on the basis of data from the most representative previous races,» say the organizers in a press release.