The two Toyota GR010 Hybrids are split by just half a second at the front a quarter of the way into the Sebring 1000 Miles.
The number 50 Ferrari 499P started the race on pole, and the car’s first ever lap of racing was completed behind the Safety Car before the field was released. During that time there was already drama, as the number 94 Peugeot had to head to the pit lane due to being stuck in first gear.Antonio Fuoco kept the Ferrari in the lead once racing properly got underway, but he was sat behind the Safety Car again by lap five following a huge crash for the number 83 AF Corse Ferrari in the GTE Am class.
Luis Perez Companc was uninjured in the crash, but the damage to the tyre barriers meant racing did not resume until lap 13. By that point Fuoco had already given up his lead, as Ferrari opted to pit both their hypercars to top them up with fuel.
That promoted the number eight Toyota into the lead ahead of sister car, with the Team Penske-run number six Porsche in third and number two Cadillac in fourth. It took three laps for Fuoco to reach the back of the Hypercar pack, which did not include the Peugeot that hit early troubles or the sole Glickenhaus which suffered an engine cut-out at the restart, and he moved further up the order while the Toyotas pulled away.
Fuoco fell back down the order though by lap 28, as he was handed a drive-through penalty for overtaking behind the Safety Car, and he then had to repeat his earlier charge.
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Mike Conway pitted the number eight Toyota from first place at the end of lap 33, promoting team mate Sebastien Buemi into a big lead over Laurens Vanthoor in the Penske Porsche. Several of the other Hypercar entries pitted on the same lap, and once Buemi pitted too it left the Ferraris running at the front of the field.
Conway ate into Buemi’s five-second gap to him over the second stint, getting it down to a second before he pitted on lap 63 to undercut his team mate. Buemi came in two laps later to hand over to Kamui Kobayashi, with Conway being replaced by Brendon Hartley.
The undercut worked and Hartley assumed the lead, but quickly came under pressure from Kobayashi who filled his mirrors. However a Full Course Yellow period began as the race reached quarter-distance due to the Glickenhaus losing power again and stopping.
Behind the Toyotas there had been thrilling battles between the two Penske Porsches and the Cadillac, with Alex Lynn hassling Michael Christensen in the number five Porsche and then Vanthoor in the number six. While he eventually got through, the battling left the trio a minute behind the Toyotas (prior to the pace being slowed by the FCY) and brought the Ferraris behind them back into contention.
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Sebring 1000 Miles standings at quarter-distance
| Pos | No. | Class | Team | Car | Drivers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | Hypercar (Hybrid) | Toyota | Toyota GR010 Hybrid | Sébastien Buemi/Brendon Hartley/Ryo Hirakawa |
| 2 | 7 | Hypercar (Hybrid) | Toyota | Toyota GR010 Hybrid | Mike Conway/Kamui Kobayashi/Jose Maria Lopez |
| 3 | 6 | Hypercar (Hybrid) | Porsche Penske | Porsche 963 | Kévin Estre/André Lotterer/Laurens Vanthoor |
| 4 | 50 | Hypercar (Hybrid) | Ferrari AF Corse | Ferrari 499P | Antonio Fuoco/Miguel Molina/Nicklas Nielsen |
| 5 | 5 | Hypercar (Hybrid) | Porsche Penske | Porsche 963 | Dane Cameron/Michael Christensen/Frédéric Makowiecki |
| 6 | 51 | Hypercar (Hybrid) | Ferrari AF Corse | Ferrari 499P | Alessandro Pier Guidi/James Calado/Antonio Giovinazzi |
| 7 | 2 | Hypercar (Hybrid) | Cadillac | Cadillac V-Series.R | Earl Bamber/Alex Lynn/Richard Westbrook |
| 8 | 23 | LMP2 | United Autosports | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Joshua Pierson/Tom Blomqvist/Oliver Jarvis |
| 9 | 4 | Hypercar (Hybrid) | Floyd Vanwall | Vanwall Vandervell 680 | Tom Dillmann/Esteban Guerrieri/Jacques Villeneuve |
| 10 | 63 | LMP2 | Prema | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Doriane Pin/Mirko Bortolotti/Daniil Kvyat |
| 11 | 36 | LMP2 | Alpine | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Matthieu Vaxiviere/Julien Canal/Charles Milesi |
| 12 | 22 | LMP2 | United Autosports | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Frederick Lubin/Philip Hanson/Filipe Albuquerque |
| 13 | 34 | LMP2 | Inter Europol | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Jakub Smiechowski/Fabio Scherer/Albert Costa |
| 14 | 48 | LMP2 | Jota | Oreca 07 – Gibson | David Beckmann/Yifei Ye/William Stevens |
| 15 | 31 | LMP2 | Team WRT | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Sean Gelael/Ferdinand Habsburg/Robin Frijns |
| 16 | 28 | LMP2 | Jota | Oreca 07 – Gibson | David Heinemeier Hansson/Pietro Fittipaldi/Oliver Rasmussen |
| 17 | 9 | LMP2 | Prema | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Filip Ugran/Bent Viscaal/Andrea Caldarelli |
| 18 | 41 | LMP2 | Team WRT | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Rui Andrade/Robert Kubica/Louis Delétraz |
| 19 | 35 | LMP2 | Alpine | Oreca 07 – Gibson | André Negrão/Memo Rojas/Oliver Caldwell |
| 20 | 85 | LMGTE Am | Iron Dames | Porsche 911 RSR 19 | Sarah Bovy/Michelle Gatting/Rahel Frey |
| 21 | 33 | LMGTE Am | Corvette | Chevrolet Corvette C8.R | Ben Keating/Nicolas Varrone/Nicky Catsburg |
| 22 | 98 | LMGTE Am | Northwest AMR | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | Paul Dalla Lana/Nicki Thiim/Axcil Jeffries |
| 23 | 21 | LMGTE Am | AF Corse | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | Stefano Costantini/Simon Mann/Ulysse de Pauw |
| 24 | 708 | Hypercar (Hybrid) | Glickenhaus | Glickenhaus 007 | Romain Dumas/Ryan Briscoe/Olivier Pla |
| 25 | 54 | LMGTE Am | AF Corse | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | Thomas Flohr/Francesco Castellacci/Davide Rigon |
| 26 | 57 | LMGTE Am | Kessel | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | Takeshi Kimura/Scott Huffaker/Daniel Serra |
| 27 | 60 | LMGTE Am | Iron Lynx | Porsche 911 RSR 19 | Claudio Schiavoni/Matteo Cressoni/Alessio Picariello |
| 28 | 86 | LMGTE Am | GR | Porsche 911 RSR 19 | Michael Wainwright/Riccardo Pera/Benjamin Barker |
| 29 | 77 | LMGTE Am | Dempsey-Proton | Porsche 911 RSR 19 | Christian Ried/Mikkel Pedersen/Julien Andlauer |
| 30 | 777 | LMGTE Am | D’Station | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | Satoshi Hoshino/Casper Stevenson/Tomonobu Fujii |
| 31 | 25 | LMGTE Am | ORT by TF | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | Ahmad Al Harthy/Michael Dinan/Charlie Eastwood |
| 32 | 56 | LMGTE Am | Project 1 AO | Porsche 911 RSR 19 | PJ Hyett/Gunnar Jeannette/Matteo Cairoli |
| 33 | 93 | Hypercar (Hybrid) | Peugeot | Peugeot 9X8 | Paul Di Resta/Mikkel Jensen/Jean-Éric Vergne |
| 34 | 10 | LMP2 | Vector Sport | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Ryan Cullen/Matthias Kaiser/Gabriel Aubry |
| 35 | 94 | Hypercar (Hybrid) | Peugeot | Peugeot 9X8 | Loic Duval/Gustavo Menezes/Nico Müller |
| 36 | 83 | LMGTE Am | AF Corse | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | Luis Perez Companc/Lilou Wadoux/Alessio Rovera |
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World Endurance Championship
- McLaren signs WEC champion and Le Mans winner Hirakawa as F1 reserve driver
- Vandoorne joins Peugeot’s hypercar squad for 2024
- Toyota survives chaotic start for one-two win at home
- Kobayashi leads all-Toyota front row in Fuji qualifying
- Ferrari to celebrate 2023 Le Mans win with Italian GP livery tweak
Martin (@f1hornet)
17th March 2023, 19:46
Enjoying the racing so far, and the lack of tyre warmers is making things interesting too.
CD (@clipperdael)
17th March 2023, 19:52
Companc’s crash in T1 looked quite similar to Bachler’s a litte bit earlier in the 12H qualifying, might want to take it easy there…
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
17th March 2023, 23:10
I read the headline “Ferrari make early pitstop” and in my head, I heard, “Ferrari make early pitstop mistake”.
My mind is so accustomed to this kind of thing, its confusing to see them doing well here.