This weekend, the drivers of the Italian team AF Corse Robert Kubica, Robert Schwartzman and Yifei Ye became the best of the three teams participating in the “1812 km of Qatar” on Ferrari 499P hypercars.
In the first stage of the new WEC season they took 5th place, although according to the qualifying results they only started from the sixth row, but were able to regain many positions. The result could have been better if there had not been an unfortunate incident: during Shvartsman’s shift there was a collision with a car of the LMTG3 category, the driver of which, by decision of the stewards, subsequently received a penalty in the pit lane.
But this required the replacement of the rear part of the aerodynamic body kit of the bright yellow sports prototype No. 83, losing valuable time. Nevertheless, the team managed to return to the top five, but also took 2nd place in the FIA Team Cup – a special competition for private teams competing in the highest category of the WEC.
“The result we achieved in the 1812km Qatar, my very first race in the top class of the WEC, can certainly be considered positive,” said Shvartsman, a Russian rider competing under an Israeli license. – After practice and qualifying we understood that the race would not be easy – and so it turned out.
However, the team can be happy with 5th place and 2nd in the FIA Cup team rankings. It’s a shame that during my shift I collided with an LMGT3 car, which forced me to replace the rear wing and we lost 30 valuable seconds.
I enjoyed driving this car and all the duels on the track were fun, even if some resulted in time losses. I am very grateful to Robert Kubica and Yifei Ye, my great teammates, and the entire AF Corse team! We are looking forward to the race in Imola!”
However, you will have to wait quite a long time for the second stage of the season, the 6 Hours of Imola – this race takes place on April 21.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
