First Hyperpole and first row for Shwartzman at Imola: “I was a little lost! »

Red, yellow, then red: Ferrari scored a hat-trick this Saturday, during qualifying for the 6 Hours of Imola. On his circuit, the Prancing Horse won everything by placing his three mounts in the first three places for the starting grid on Sunday. The two official 499Ps in red are separated by the private 499P of AF Corse, in yellow livery and piloted by Robert Shwartzman.

The Russian-Israeli, who was experiencing his first qualifying session in WEC (Yifei Ye had driven the Ferrari during qualifying for the 1812km of Qatar), managed to secure a front row position just behind pole sitter, Antonio Fuoco, despite a choppy session. If the rookie believes that pole position was achievable at Imola, he remains satisfied with his performance and is already focusing on tomorrow's race.

Robert Shwartzman (AF Corse n°83), 2nd in qualifying at Imola : “It’s a good thing to be on the front row for my first WEC and Hypercar qualifying. The session was a bit messy with the red flag then the yellow flag, so it was a bit difficult to line up the laps, but the last lap was just fine. Obviously, we still have things to work on. Tomorrow is the race, the most important thing, so now we have to prepare well the strategy and what we are going to do in the race. But overall, I'm happy to be on the front lines. »

“[Pole position] is always within reach. I think if there had been another session it would have been a little cleaner, I think I could have fought for pole position. But since it was a bit messy, I wasn't able to do the tour necessary to fully understand how the car works. The other drivers have experience. It's the first time these feelings [of qualifying] with this car, so I was a little lost. So it took me longer to get something more decent. »

“I don’t know [if there will be instructions at Ferrari for the departure]. We haven't discussed it, but normally we should be 'free'. So everything should be open. I think the Ferrari is very good and our car is one of the fastest. »

Comments collected by Dorian Grangier

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