The 2024 version of the Peugeot 9X8 has achieved its first podium place. After the 8 Hours of Bahrain, the second placed Ferrari #51 (Pier Guidi/Calado/Giovinazzi) was given a time penalty of almost five minutes and dropped to 14th place. All other hypercars are moving forward.
The reason: Ferrari AF Corse used 28 instead of 26 tires in qualifying and the race. The penalty of 4:55 minutes is explained by a stop-and-go penalty for two additional tires, each of which entails a time penalty of two minutes. This was converted into a two-round penalty. The sentence cannot be appealed.
Ferrari explains the situation as follows: “The team basically adhered to the limit of 26 tires. However, due to a mistake, the tires that were used for the start on the grid were used in the race and not the ones that were worn out in qualifying and were actually intended for the race. These two tires were not considered part of the team’s allocated quota, hence the stewards’ decision.”
Mikkel Jensen, Nico Muller and Jean-Eric Vergne move up to third place for Peugeot. It is only the second time that Peugeot has been on the podium since its comeback in mid-2022. The first podium finish came at the 6-hour race in Monza in 2023.
The result has no influence on the outcome World Cupbut Laurens Vanthoor, Andre Lotterer and Kevin Estre receive an extra point towards their Drivers’ World Championship as they move up to tenth place. Only if the Toyota #7 (Conway/Kobayashi/de Vries) had won instead of the Toyota #8 (Buemi/Hartley/Hirakawa) would the drivers’ championship decision have been made at the green table.
Hypercar tire supplier Michelin was also punished by the organizers. The tire supplier must submit a list of the RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) data and barcodes of its tires no later than 48 hours before the race. However, Michelin only did this in Bahrain three hours before the race.
The consequence: 15,000 euros fineof which 5,000 euros immediately and 10,000 euros on probation. The commissioners attribute the fact that Michelin escaped with a black eye to the fact that “there were no sporting consequences from the start of the competition until the decision was announced.”
It’s not the first time Ferrari has used too many tires. In the winter of 2023/24, Ferrari used too many tires during test drives. As a result, Ferrari’s tire quota for test drives was reduced.
The current penalty has nothing to do with the previous one, because this only related to the number of tires during test drives and not on race weekends.
