Yifei Ye: "It's an extraordinary day for the tifosi"

Yifei, how does it feel to win this first Hypercar race?

I am impressed by the fact that Ferrari imposed itself the same day in Formula 1 and WEC, two world championships. It's an extraordinary day for the fans. I'm very happy to be able to experience this. My teammates (Robert Kubica and Robert Shwartzman. Ed.) did a great job today. Kubica made a great start and took the lead of the race. Then, I had to manage my double stint without changing tires unlike my rivals who had fresh tires in their second stint. It wasn't easy to defend, but it was important to stay in the lead before the last driver change. Toyota had a superior car today, especially in terms of degradation, but we were able to drive a clean race without making any mistakes. That's what rewarded us with a win in the end. I really appreciate the chance that Ferrari is giving me and I'm delighted to bounce back after the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where we had a chance to impose ourselves.

It was finally in this second stint on hard tyres that Toyota came back and the race could have swung in the other direction...

It was complicated. I had to keep these tires so as not to compromise the end of our race. They were inferior to the Mediums, but it was the safest solution and it was important to keep track position (so not to stop. Ed.). My double stint helped us have fresh tires at the end of the race. All three of us managed very well. The team also made perfect stops.

What does it mean to you to win with the Ferrari colours?

I hope this first victory will lead to others! This championship is extremely tight, we could see it on this race. We are the sixth different car to win this year. It will not be easy to repeat this performance, but I think we have a good chance on the last two races of the year (Fuji and Bahrain).

ALSO READ > Lone Star Le Mans – AF Corse resists Toyota, Alpine in the top 5