Ferrari will be aiming to claim their first win at a six-hour race as the World Endurance Championship returns this weekend.
The Lone Star Le Mans at the Circuit of the Americas hosts round six of the 2024 WEC season as the battle for the Hypercar championship heats up.
Ferrari are in the hunt for the manufacturers’ title, currently sitting third in the standings, 17 points behind the leaders Porsche.
The Italian giants have a huge weight on their shoulder, having only ever won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the WEC, grabbing consecutive victories in the last two years in the Hypercar class.
But as the series heads to Texas, Sam Smith spoke on the WEC’s preview of the race on the championship’s YouTube channel about how he thinks Ferrari may be able to challenge at the front.
Sam Smith believes Ferrari could be at the front at COTA
The No. 50 Ferrari 499P driven by Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen are sat second in the drivers’ standings after taking the win at Le Mans earlier this year.
The No. 51, piloted by James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi and Alessandro Pier Guidi, finished third in the historic event. Ferrari have only picked up one more podium courtesy of the No. 50’s third place at Spa in what has been a challenging year for the team.
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But with COTA having some similarities to the Le Mans course, Smith thinks this weekend could suit the 499P Hypercar.
“I mean there are some similarities to Le Mans; long straights, some really fast flowing corners, a few though where you need a bit of traction,” he said.
“I think Ferrari’s package will suit this surface. The unknown is of course, the aforementioned track surface change but they were part of that testing bunch that came here in July and they will have learnt a great deal about this.
“I see this race as really getting their title ambitions back on track. I mean they’re not far away for Porsche and Toyota in the manufacturers’ [championship]. They can still do it, but of course they’ve got to start winning. They’ve got to at least get podiums here, I think in COTA, leaves that momentum for Fuji.
“Each of their drivers have shown this season that they’re at the top of their game. They haven’t made that many mistakes, they’ve just not had either the rub of the green or the general consistency of pace, as we saw at Interlagos, to mount a challenge for victory.
“But I expect them to potentially be leading the way come Sunday here at COTA.”
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Ferrari will have an advantage with the Balance of Performance adjsustements
The new track surface at COTA adds to what will be an interesting race with several teams benefitting and losing out to the Balance of Performance adjustments for this weekend.
Following their dominant victory at Sao Paulo, Toyota have been hit the hardest in the BoP for Austin, as well as Porsche, who will both run with heavier cars and less power.
This will present Ferrari with an advantage, as they will run a lighter car but also have less power than at Interlagos. With the sheer top speed of their machine, the Maranello squad could well be the team to look out for.
Following Austin, the WEC heads to the Six Hours of Fuji before the season finale for the Eight Hours of Bahrain.