After a perfect start to the season, Ferrari are once again ready to attack at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. Despite not having the chance to test at the newly resurfaced track, the Scuderia Ferrari drivers James Calado and Nicklas Nielsen are optimistic ahead of the third race weekend of 2025.
“We haven’t done any testing with Ferrari at Spa, and we didn’t test at Imola either, and that seemed to be OK,” said Calado ahead of the Spa race. The Brit believes that the changes won’t be too significant, and will primarily affect grip levels, with quicker lap times being the result. “We’ve done our homework and worked hard in the simulator.”
Calado’s teammate Nicklas Nielsen underscored the importance of sim work: “Of course the real test will always be when we come here, but we have some data from our previous testing here,” the Dane said. Nielsen indicated that other series had seen marked improvements in lap time as a result of the new surface, but also sounded a word of caution regarding the effect on tyre wear: “Spa is normally a high-degradation track, so we use quite a lot of tyre here. […] In the end it is going to be the same for everyone.”
Tight battle in qualifying expected
In spite of the uncertainty over the new surface and its effects on the car, Nielsen is still confident ahead of the race weekend: “Our car is good in high-speed corners, so this is a track that suits us very well,” the Ferrari driver said.
Looking at the competition, there is a huge amount of respect among the Ferrari ranks at what they consider to be a tough challenge ahead. Calado expects a tight battle in qualifying, with Porsche, Toyota and BMW all up there fighting for the pole.
Qualifying on Saturday 10 May will show us whether Ferrari can realise their potential and make good on the disappointment of last year.
Images © Endurance Archive