Just three races remain in the 2024 WEC season and with teams already up and running in Austin for Lone Star Le Mans, it’s beginning to feel like crunch time in the Hypercar drivers’ and manufacturers’ title races.
In the drivers’ points, it’s a three-way battle between the No. 6 Porsche crew of Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor, Ferrari’s No. 50 trio of Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen and the full-season duo in the No. 7 Toyota, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries. The No. 6 Porsche drivers hold a 19-point advantage out front and just 22 points separate them.
With 20 hours of racing to come and a total of 90 points still on offer, the leaders mustn’t be feeling comfortable. One bad result could change everything. One slip-up could undo the No. 6’s stunning run through the first five races of the season, which included a win, three second-place finishes and a fourth. It could also shake things up in the manufacturers’ standings, as Porsche leads Toyota by just four points and Ferrari by 17.
The pressure is on for all three contenders, but while one would expect Porsche’s crew to be feeling the heat the most in the Texas sunshine, this weekend appears to be most vital for Ferrari.
Within the AF Corse camp, the expectation is that, of the three circuits to come, COTA represents its greatest opportunity to score a second win this season. The nature of the technical, high-speed, 3.426-mile circuit is likely to suit the 499P more than Fuji and Bahrain, the two circuits where the team struggled the most last season.
Off the back of a tricky weekend in Brazil — where AF Corse’s contending 499P finished sixth and behind both the No. 6 and No. 7 — it’s become even more important to bounce back to prevent its chances of winning the titles from slipping away.
“It’s no secret that São Paulo was very difficult for us as a team,” No. 50 driver Nicklas Nielsen told RACER. “I think our car suits a track like this much better. Circuits with slow corners and rotation are where we struggle the most, so this is very important for our championship because what we have seen from Porsche is a good step from last year, and with Toyota, we know what they can do; it’s no surprise they are strong. I think they will be the most difficult to beat, actually.”
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1416]
Last time out, Ferrari debuted its first evo “joker” update to the 499P, which focused on improving aero efficiency, braking efficiency and cooling. Is this one of the circuits where Ferrari expects to make gains from the updates?
“It’s difficult to say,” Nielsen responded. “I was optimistic before Sao Paulo, but it was one of the worst races of the season for us. Yet if you look at the bigger picture, it’s clear it will have an impact. The most important race for us will be Fuji, which is so heavy on braking. That’s the hope.”
Ferrari was one of the Hypercar manufacturers that took part in a multi-day test at COTA over the summer in advance of the WEC’s first visit to Austin since 2020. Nielsen felt that experience gave him and the team an indication of what to expect from the Hypercar category’s first race at the Grand Prix venue, even though parts of the circuit have been re-surfaced since the running.
“Testing is always better than no testing and we will see,” Nielsen said. “What we expect is more grip in the race with the new surface, and that will suit our car well.
“We’re all just eager for it to start because this place is impressive. It will make for an interesting battle because you can lose a lot of time here through traffic. It’s going to be as exciting as it is important for us.”
For Molina, Fuoco and Nielsen who won Le Mans back in June, this has been somewhat of a fairytale season, but the task isn’t over and there’s no time to relax.
Nielsen in particular is well aware that he is presented with a rare opportunity. Not only can he become a Le Mans champion and world champion in the same season, he can also complete a journey with Ferrari that has seen him rise from single-make Ferrari Challenge competition, all the way to the top in sports car racing.
“I would never have imagined I could do this,” Nielsen concluded. “Winning the title would make it a perfect season for us, not just for us drivers, but for Ferrari. To win Le Mans and close the season with a championship would be amazing; it’s what we are trying to do.
“Just winning Le Mans was unbelievable. It took time to realize what we did and it’s very difficult to describe what I felt because it was such a big achievement. We haven’t really celebrated properly yet. We are waiting until the end of the year to do that.”