In the aftermath of the first race of the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship, hailed beforehand as the start of a new golden age, it seems as though Toyota won with a dominant display the 1000 Miles of Sebring.
However, while Toyota were dominant — there’s no denying that — the results somewhat flattered them in terms of race pace. While they ran a largely faultless race operationally, and had the race pace edge over the new competition from Ferrari, Cadillac and Porsche, the “new boys” were not far off.
Toyota’s nearest challenger, the #50 Ferrari of Antonio Fuoco, James Calado and Nicklas Nielsen, were just over half a second a lap on average off the German-Japanese team. Cadillac were a further half a second off Ferrari in the late 1:50s, while both Porsches were in the 1:51s on average through the race, with the #6 Porsche four tenths faster than its sister #5.
Toyota’s big advantage at Sebring was the experience of both its team and drivers. Ferrari, while its car was fast, struggled with tyre wear, with its pace in second stint on tyres dropping off significantly, its pair of 499Ps were largely able to keep pace with the GR010s in the first stint.
Porsche also struggled with tyre wear on its 963, something the IMSA team did not seem to struggle with in the IMSA 12 Hours of Sebring race. It’ll be interesting to track this as the WEC team tested fairly extensively at Portimao, the venue for the next WEC race in mid-April.
Ferrari also made some strategic and operational errors — such as Antonio Fuoco overtaking lower class cars before the safety car line at the restart in the first hour — which cost the #50 Ferrari time serving a drive-through penalty. Likewise, pitting during the safety car, dropping the Ferraris down the field may have been the wrong decision as both cars needed to pass lower class cars, costing them time while Toyota created a gap at the front if the field.
The #2 Cadillac also cost itself time with a penalty, without which it could have found itself on the podium.
In terms of fuel consumption, Toyota again had the edge, doing 27 laps a stint on average across the race. Cadillac was the closest challenger in this respect, also doing 27 laps on average, while the Ferraris were doing 23 or 24 laps. The Porsches fared a little better, doing 24 or 25 laps.
Regardless, though, those issues for those running new cars will be solved with experience and understanding the car more. It’s shaping up to be a good year!
