Will Ferrari achieve its long-awaited championship? Questions asked just before practice for the 6 Hours of Fuji, Round 7 of the WEC

WEC

Towards winning the drivers’ title

Ferrari entered the seventh round, the 6 Hours of Fuji, on a strong note, having won the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the third consecutive year. However, their races at Fuji Speedway in 2023 (4th and 5th place) and 2024 (9th and 12th place) were not so good. However, this race is an important one that could potentially decide the championship depending on the results.

Just before free practice, Mauro Barbieri, Ferrari’s Head of Performance & Governance Relationships for Endurance Race Cars, was asked about his enthusiasm. He replied, “We will approach it just like any other race. We will do our best and calculate the results after the checkered flag. We will just focus on optimizing and achieving the best possible result.”

First of all, in terms of the drivers’ title, the current leader is the Ferrari AF Corse “Ferrari 499P” No. 51 (Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi) with 115 points, while the second-placed non-works AF Corse “Ferrari 499P” No. 83 (Robert Kubica, Ye Yifei, Philip Hansson) is 15 points behind with 100 points, and the third-placed No. 6 “Porsche 963” (Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor) is 36 points behind with 79 points. In light of these points differences, there was no clear answer to the question, “Would there be any last-minute changes within the team to secure the title, such as in the final stint or with 10 minutes left in the race?”

A “dream” and a “top priority”

It’s more likely that they’ll clinch the other manufacturers’ title. Ferrari currently leads with 203 points, a huge 65 points ahead of second-placed Porsche with 138 points. For Ferrari, winning the WEC title is a “dream” and “top priority,” but he also said, “We don’t intend to change our approach too much.” In this race, their goal is to avoid trouble, avoid crashes, and maximize their performance. The situation is complicated, and they’ll only do the calculations once they see the checkered flag.

Just as in the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, where the No. 83 car finished near the bottom with a best finish of 8th, Ferrari’s compatibility with Fuji has not been particularly good, looking at the past two races there, with two of their three cars crashing on the second lap last year. In fact, in today’s two 90-minute practice sessions, their best finish was 8th.

Qualifying rounds become increasingly important

That’s why tomorrow’s qualifying session will be crucial. Qualifying has become important in endurance races in recent years because the pace of the cars in the race is so close due to performance adjustments made by the Balance of Performance (BoP). Overtaking during the race is difficult, and there is a risk of losing time behind a slightly slower car.

Furthermore, because contact is likely to occur at the first corner, which is approached at high speed at Fuji, it is all the more important to achieve a good position in qualifying. Fuji has become a crucial moment for Ferrari, and they must focus on qualifying to avoid trouble and ensure their performance during the race in order to aim for a higher position. We will be keeping an eye on qualifying, which will be held tomorrow, Saturday, from 3:00 PM.

PHOTO／Ferrari SpA

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The WEC Fuji 6 Hours is about to begin, with the Ferrari 499P aiming for its first victory at Fuji

The 7th round of the 2025 World Endurance Championship (WEC), the Fuji 6 Hours, will be held at Fuji Speedway from September 27th to 28th, 2025. Ferrari, currently leading the Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ Championships, will enter three 499P cars.