Lone Star Le Mans pole-sitter Antonio Giovinazzi was disappointed to retire from the race after a strong weekend before his abrupt fall out of the lead.
The #51 AF Corse Ferrari 499P driver was unable to turn his maiden WEC pole into victory after two hours into the six-hour race at the Circuit of the Americas.
Before lifting off the throttle to give the lead to #83 AF Corse Ferrari driver Robert Kubica, Giovinazzi controlled the lead as drivers contended with a hot and humid Texan event.
Giovinazzi then faced an abrupt situation which not only lead to falling out of winning contention, but towards retirement at end of the second racing hour.
The Italian said: “The 499P number 83’s victory and the 51’s third place are outstanding results for which I congratulate the entire team.
“Unfortunately, we encountered a problem with our car, which forced us to retire.
“It’s a real shame, as we had an excellent weekend up to that point, even securing pole position.
“Now, we turn our focus to Fuji, where in [under] a fortnight, we’ll have the chance to make up for and get back on track to prove our competitiveness once again.”
Giovinazzi spun into the Turn 12 heavy braking zone after making minor contact with #94 Peugeot 9X8 driver Stoffel Vandoorne, which was followed by a prolonged period of time where seemingly struggled to escape the neutral gear.
He returned to the pitlane on electric power alone before stopping again, leading to the mechanics to offer assistance.
Having made it to his pit box, the #51 Ferrari waited to serve a five-second stop-and-hold penalty awarded for contact with the #78 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F LMGT3 of Arnold Robin at Turn 7.
Ferrari retired their pole-sitting Hypercar, ultimately diagnosing a driveline failure from its incident with the #78 Lexus.
