Tyre choice set to be crucial in Hypercar
A hot button topic, as ever here in Bahrain, is tyre degradation.
The track surface here at the BIC is the oldest of any active Grand Prix circuit in the world, as has remained untouched since its inaugural year in 2004. (Interestingly, it is composed of 120 thousand tons of Shropshire, UK aggregate.) It makes this venue a tough nut to crack for the teams, drivers and tyre manufacturers.
In the top class, teams have the choice of the Michelin Medium and Hard compounds this weekend, and the jury is still out on which one will be the most useful and when. The drop-off is reportedly massive if drivers push too hard during a stint and with the race running into the night, the cooler conditions later in the race will likely have an impact on each team’s strategy.
As a result, the teams spent the three practice sessions experimenting with different combinations in preparation for the race.
“It’s tough to say what will happen,” said Jonathan Diuguid, the managing director of Team Penske. “People ran Mediums in practice when the track temp was at 40 degrees plus, but all options have been run across the varying temperature ranges and I think during the night everyone will converge toward the Medium.”
Alex Lynn from Cadillac meanwhile, feels the Hard tyre will be most effective throughout.
“I think it will be a Hard tyre race, but I think everyone has to use at least a side of Mediums because they used a set in Qualifying,” he told DSC. “We’ve done a bit of Medium work in FP2, but I think it’ll be a race for the Hard.”
Other things to look for
Beyond tyre strategy, additional points to watch for on TV tomorrow include the entry to Turn 1.
When the Hypercars run off-line in the braking zone they ground out dramatically, with sparks flying through what appears to be an increasing compression as the circuit passes over the main access tunnel.
Look out too for a small new-for-2024 gravel trap at Turn 4. Several paddock members have predicted to DSC that intervention is likely to be required there if anyone has an off during the eight-hour race.
Key stats from Qualifying
Today’s Qualifying sessions produced some notable statistics.
In Hypercar, Toyota extended its record of most pole positions in WEC history. It now has 41. Porsche is the closest challenger, on 23.
McLaren meanwhile, claimed its first ever WEC front-row lockout and its second pole position of the season in LMGT3.
In doing so, McLaren also became just the second brand along with Lamborghini to claim more than one pole in the class in its inagural year, after Inception’s performance at Le Mans. (Remarkably, six manufacturers have scored at least one pole in the class.)
Looking ahead both the #8 Toyota and the #95 McLaren crews will be hoping to add to the unique achievement in 2024 of the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin, which is currently only car to win from pole. It did so back at CoTA.
Vergne hopeful Peugeot can fight for points
Peugeot’s weekend has been somewhat of a rollercoaster, its 9X8s topping two of the three practice sessions before failing to make the Hyperpole cut in Qualifying earlier today.
However, when DSC approached #93 driver Jean-Eric Vergne in the Mixed Zone this evening to get his thoughts for the race, he was more upbeat than than expected.
The Frenchman explained that engine issues in Qualifying blunted his performance and ultimately caused the technical infringment that saw his laps deleted.
“I lost a lot of performance with that issue. I lost power, and because I was losing power the ECU was trying to compensate but it did it too much and the engine cut, it happened a couple of times,” he said.
Thus, with the issue diagonsed and acted on ahead of the race, he believes that there is an opportunity to score a more positive result in the race.
“It’s no secret that we don’t have the pace to play at the front of the grid, but the car this weekend has felt better than recent weekends,” he added. “We will see, because of the tyre deg. If we don’t make mistakes, we can target to finish in the points and I am sure we can manage that.”
Cottingham thrilled with United Qualifying performance
United Autosports’ James Cottingham missed out on his first LMGT3 pole position by just two thousandths of a second earlier today, but was thrilled to have played a key part in the team’s front-row lockout.
“My first flying lap the tyres felt good so I went and pushed, it wasn’t quite pole, but I’m delighted that it’s the sister car with us on the front row,” he explained. “I’ve felt unwell over the past two days so I’m pleased to have done that. I feel good now!”
Looking ahead to the race, he pointed out that the Bronze drivers may have the toughest job early in the race, when they are tasked with managing tyre degradation when the track temperature is at its hottest.
Al Harthy downplays BMW chances
WRT LMGT3 driver Ahmad Al Harthy feels that the M4 LMGT3 may struggle to run at the sharp end tomorrow.
Neither of the Belgian team’s cars made it through to Hyperpole, and according to the Omani, questions remain regarding the team’s ability to make up ground over long runs in the race.
“I think our performance has been consistent with the season so far, we can’t expect much more in Qualifying. We tend to work better on finding race pace. We’d have liked to break into Hyperpole but this is a tough circuit for us and we know there’s a gap between us and the rest,” he said.
“We don’t really know how everyone’s tyre performance will be. We just focus on our own pace and see what happens.”
Schumacher looking to bounce back after Qualifying error
Alpine driver Mick Schumacher senses an opportunity to finish the 2024 season with another standout result for the A424, despite struggling to set a quick time in Qualifying today.
The German could only manage 17th on the grid after making an error at the final corner while pushing to improve on his best time. But tomorrow is a new day and offers the chance to reset.
“Long run pace for us is not too bad and we have eight hours to go through the field tomorrow and show our performance,” he said. “We have a clear strategy, we know what we want to do and we know how the tyres behave. We are set on that and we hope conditions don’t change too much.
“The competition seems very strong, it’s hard to say if we can make the podium – breaking into the top 10 would be a good start.”
Spotted in the paddock
Peter Baron from Action Express Racing arrived in the paddock this morning with Fred Vesti. The Dane is set to take part in Sunday’s Rookie Test ahead of his duties with AXR in IMSA next year.
Baron of course has significant history in the FIA WEC, as the owner of the very first LMP2 championship-winning team, Starworks.
Also in the paddock ahead of the test is LMP2 team owner and former F1 racer Olivier Panis, here to support his son Aurélien who will run with AKKODIS ASP in a Lexus on Sunday.
Panis Snr also confirmed to DSC that his team – Panis Racing – is no longer in the running for the planned Hyundai/Genesis preparation campaign in the ELMS’ LMP2 class next year, ahead of the brand’s expected Hypercar debut in 2026.
DSC is now confident to predict that the effort in question will be undertaken by IDEC Sport. The team is likely to run with a crew composed of existing IDEC technical staff and additional staff drawn from the existing Hyundai WRC squad.
Elsewhere, ex-Rebellion, Alpine and Peugeot driver Gustavo Menezes is back in WEC paddock for a second time this season exploring future opportunities. DSC believes his name may well appear on an updated final entry for the Rookie Test, likely not in a Hypercar.
Qualifying highlights and wrap now available
You can catch up with today’s FIA WEC Qualifying sessions at the Bahrain International Circuit with the official broadcast highlights and post-session wrap on YouTube below:
