Ferrari has been given back the engine power it lost ahead of its Le Mans 24 Hours victory for the Interlagos World Endurance Championship round this weekend.
The Italian manufacturer’s 499P was hit with a 1.7% reduction in maximum power above 250km/h (155mph) under the new power gain element of the Hypercar class Balance of Performance introduced for last month’s Le Mans WEC round.
In the BoP published for the Sao Paolo 6 Hours, the Ferrari Le Mans Hypercar has a positive figure of 1.8%.
Ferrari refrained from criticising the reduction it received under power gain at Le Mans, but technical director Ferdinando Cannizzo asked the media to “draw its own conclusions” on its effect after the first track action on the pre-event Test Day.
He pointed out that “on a track like Le Mans, we are above 250km/h [155mph] for 45% of the time” and that the power loss would affect the cars raceability.
The Ferrari picked up straight-line speed through race week, but the decision to trim out the 499P resulted in the Toyota GR010 HYBRID LMH being the faster car in wet and damp conditions.
#51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi
Photo by: Rainier Ehrhardt
Maximum power allowed from the 499P’s hybrid powertrain below the 250km/h threshold has been reduced for the Brazil WEC race, round five of the championship, from 508kW at Le Mans to 503kW (678 to 674bhp).
The minimum weight of the car has also been increased from the French enduro from 1043 to 1060kg.
But both the engine power and the weight of Ferrari are largely in line with the figures from the Spa round of the WEC in May like much of the Hypercar field.
This is because Le Mans is considered to have a separate BoP by the WEC rule makers, the FIA and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, because of the unique characteristics of the 8.47-mile Circuit de la Sarthe.
Power is down from 506kW at Spa and weight up from 1053kg for the Ferrari in comparison to the Belgian race, which the marque looked on course to win before the race was controversially restarted after the scheduled finish time of the race following a red flag.
Only the Porsche 963, the Peugeot 9X8 2024 and the Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6 Competitizone LMH have had weight changes into double figures from Spa.
The Porsche LMDh is up 14kg and the Peugeot LMH is minus 14kg, while the Isotta has been given a 30kg weight break.
The Peugeot’s power is up 2kW from Spa and the Porsche’s by 5kW to 512kW, with no plus or minus power gain for either car.
Toyota’s GR010 will run 4kg lighter than at Spa, while power is down 9kW.
But the car has been given a plus 2.8% adjustment under power gain.
The Alpine A424 LMDh, one of the fastest cars in the straight-line at Le Mans, had been given a minus 1.3% correction above 250km/h.