Ferrari Starting To Look Like Real Competition Against Toyota for Le Mans

However, the unpredictable Belgian track created an atmosphere of uncertainty, clouding the accurate picture heading toward the Le Mans 24 Hours. While Toyota secured their third win in three races and a second consecutive one-two finish, they admitted that their pace wasn't fantastic on the day. In contrast, their Italian rivals demonstrated that they would pose a real threat at the upcoming big event. Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway, and Jose Maria Lopez secured the victory for Toyota's #7 GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercar, leading for the majority of the event.

Nevertheless, the Ferrari 499P proved to be the quicker car on average throughout the entire duration of the race, even though their best LMHs only managed to finish in third place, behind the second Toyota driven by Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, and Ryo Hirakawa. The #51 Ferrari driven by Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, and Antonio Giovinazzi experienced several delays throughout the race but managed to secure a third consecutive podium finish for Ferrari, with Calado clinching their first silverware on the final lap by overtaking Frederic Makowiecki's Porsche at Les Combes.

The #51 Ferrari had a bumpy road to third position, having lost a lap early in the race due to a cautious tire choice and a struggle to bring the tires up to temperature on a damp track. Two emergency pitstops were added to their woes, one for a deflating tire and another to refuel. However, Ferrari had set up their cars for the race's second half when the weather forecast predicted no more rain.

This proved to be a tricky decision, as James Calado put in a blistering double stint on the medium tires, closing down the gap to the Porsche 963 LMDh driven by Michael Christensen and Dane Cameron. The Ferrari's tires were the hardest available, as Michelin had brought three slick tire specifications to Spa to cater to the uncertain weather forecast. In contrast, the Porsche was on softs, which began to fail in the final laps, allowing Calado to secure third place, just over a minute behind the winning Toyota.

The Six Hours of Spa-Franchorchamps posed the question of whether Ferrari could have won without the setbacks that hampered their race. Both the podium car and the sister entry had managed to recover their lost lap in the middle of the race, although Lopez struggled towards the end of his double stint. James Calado, who drove the #51 car to third place, wasn't certain if they could have beaten the Toyotas without the mishaps. Nonetheless, the team took solace in the fact that they were much closer to the pace of the Toyotas than in previous races.

The sister Ferrari car also suffered from misfortune, having been ahead of the #51 car and running in third place in the fifth hour when Antonio Fuoco lost control on the front straight after exiting the pits. This incident brought into sharp focus the controversial ban on tire warmers for this year, which had already been a topic of discussion throughout the weekend. Despite the setbacks, both Ferrari entries managed to secure a podium finish, demonstrating their resilience and the potential for a strong showing at the upcoming Le Mans 24 Hours.

Ferrari's strategy to start on wet tires at the Spa 6 Hours may have raised some eyebrows, but the team's race and testing manager, Giuliano Salvi, defended the choice. The safety cars allowed the Ferraris to regain lost ground, but Salvi believed they also hindered the team's tire strategy.

The Toyota Gazoo Racing team suffered a blow when Brendon Hartley crashed #8 during qualifying, forcing the team to start from the penultimate row of the grid. To make matters worse, the accident left the team with only three and a half sets of tires instead of the usual four for the six-hour race. During reconnaissance laps, the team discovered that two of the Michelins were flat-spotted beyond use. However, with the track wet, they decided to proceed with just three and a half sets.

Meanwhile, Hartley's team-mate, Kamui Kobayashi, in car #7, had a smoother qualifying, putting the car in pole position. As expected, the #7 car led the Toyota charge and, after the final pitstop, Hartley could not match Kobayashi's pace due to his fresh tires. Despite Hartley's efforts to defend his position, Kobayashi overtook him with four new tires and secured the victory. However, Kobayashi was later penalized for his audacious move at the top of Eau Rouge, which cost him five seconds and reduced his winning margin to 12 seconds in the final results.

Toyota's technical director Pascal Vasselon claimed that the team would have swapped the positions of their two cars had Hartley managed to stay ahead, as car #8 was slower. However, it's unclear how long Hartley would have had to remain in front before Toyota would have called off the fight. This year, Toyota has modified their protocols slightly during the final pit stops, given the ban on tire heaters.

At the start of the race, the big challenge for the Toyotas was staying on the wet track. Driver Conway, who started in car #7, described it as a matter of survival, though he was confident that slicks were the right call. According to him, the decision was easy because technical director Pascal lives just ten minutes away and knows all about the weather in the area. Once the track started to dry, the car came alive, and Conway picked off his competitors one by one.

Mike Conway fought his way back to the front of the pack at Spa after dropping to seventh place on the opening lap. The race was not without its hiccups for the Toyota Gazoo Racing team, with a couple of slow pit stops slowing their momentum. However, these minor setbacks didn't stop Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, and Jose Maria Lopez from claiming the top spot on the podium.

Cadillac also put up a good fight, with both of the Ganassi-run Cadillac Racing cars in with a shot at a top-three finish. Unfortunately, Renger van der Zande crashed heavily at Eau Rouge in the extra car, which ended any chance of a podium finish for the team. While the cause of the crash is still unknown, van der Zande was unharmed and even bowed to the crowd as he left the car. The sister car ended up in fifth place, behind the charging Ferraris.

Despite the competition, the real story of the race was Ferrari's impressive performance on a track that closely matches the performance profile of Le Mans. The Italian team dominated the race, leaving everyone wondering what they will bring to the table at the upcoming Le Mans race in June. While the Ganassi team was disappointed to miss out on the podium, they knew they had two fast cars and felt they missed an opportunity to finish higher up the leaderboard.