Ferrari’s privateer AF Corse won in Austin. Toyota took the points for the victory in the Constructors’ Championship, strangely enough.
Some may say that it was ‘justice’, because the Japanese manufacturer lost the victory due to a penalty. But that is not the cause, but a perversion of the WEC points system – similar to that which exists in the WRC – in which, in terms of the Constructors’ championship points, the ‘customer teams’ are transparent: they neither add nor block points… because they have their own championship.
“It was disappointing not to win, but it was disappointing in terms of the championship, both for the drivers and especially for the constructors. Of course, if they had told us this before the start, we would have signed it,” said David Floury.
Of course, not winning was a disappointment. Even more so because after practice it didn’t seem like the Toyotas were in a position to win. Sufficient pace, supported by a suitable strategy and good management, put them ahead until ‘the boss’, Kamui Kobayashi, made a mistake: he did not respect a yellow flag.
For Toyota, being penalized was disappointing, but they believe that the winners should have suffered the same penalty “because in the mentioned sector they were even a tenth faster”, but they also refer to the confusion, the yellow flag waved on one side and the panel with a green light on the other, which were in force simultaneously.
The other Toyota, the #8, was also penalised. In this case, Sébastien Buemi collided with a Porsche after cornering it on the back straight; the fact that he had a puncture did not save him from a 30-second stop&go.
In any case, the two World Championships, for drivers and constructors, are very close and the two remaining races, Fuji and Bahrain, are expected to be very competitive and uncertain.
WORLD CONSTRUCTORS
- Toyota 147 points
- Porsche 136
- Ferrari 127
- Alpine 37
- BMW 31
- Cadillac 29
- Peugeot 22
- Lamborghini 11
FAVORITES FOR THE WORLD DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
- K. Estre – L. Vanthoor – A. Lotterer (Porsche) 125 points
- K Kobayashi – N. de Vries (Toyota) 113
- A. Fuoco – M. Molina – N. Nielsen (Ferrari) 113
