Ferrari aiming to get clarity over WEC restarts after failed Spa appeal

Ferrari unsuccessfully protested - and then appealed - against the results of Spa 6 Hours, which was restarted after the scheduled finish time

Ferrari is hopeful of a clarification of rules governing World Endurance Championship restarts after the loss of its appeal against the failed protest of the results of May’s Spa round.

The Italian manufacturer has expressed confidence that what it regards as a grey area in the sporting regulations will be addressed as a result of last week’s ruling from the FIA International Court of Appeal. 

The ICA’s judgement of the case heard on 3 September throwing out Ferrari's appeal contained a clause ordering “the competent sporting authority [meaning the FIA] to draw, as appropriate, the consequences of this ruling”.

Ferrari has always insisted that its protest of the stewards decision to restart round three of the 2024 WEC in Belgium beyond the scheduled finish time was partially motivated to achieve a clarification of the regulations. 

It argued that the WEC sporting rules as they stand are not clear. 

“The appeal and the ruling has opened the way for a clarification, which is needed,” Batti Pregliasco, team manager of the factory Ferrari AF Corse Hypercar squad told Autosport.

“What they are saying is that there is a grey area, that it is not clear.

“We need to clarify what we can call a bug in the regulations or some poor wording that caused the interpretation on our side, and not only on our side. 

“I think we can have a clarification in the rules for next year in the sporting regulations or perhaps from the WEC Committee [which rules on matters concerning the series].

“That is very important, because whether the race can restart or not can affect a lot in terms of strategy.”

BMW has joined the call for a clarification of the regulations. 

BMW M Motorsport boss Andreas Roos said: “If there is something that is not 100% clear, for sure we have to clarify it. 

“I haven’t made my mind up which way it should go; it just has to be clear.”

Restarting the Spa round in May after the scheduled finish time, set for 19:00, was unprecedented in the history of the WEC since its rebirth in 2012. 

PLUS: How Porsche privateers proved their worth in an elongated WEC Spa 6 Hours

The stewards invoked a clause in the sporting rules that states: “If the circumstances so require the stewards may take the decision to stop and/or modify the race time set. This may not exceed the time of the competition [meaning six hours in the case of Spa].”

Ferrari argued in its unsuccessful protest and subsequent appeal that this clause did not allow for the race to be restarted outside of its original timeframe. 

The need for extensive barrier repairs after a stoppage early in the penultimate hour prevented a resumption within the 13:00-19:00 timeframe laid down for the event, but the stewards decided to restart the race beyond the scheduled finish. 

A further one hour and 44 minutes of racing — the remaining time on the clock at the stoppage minus the time it took for the cars to line up on the start-finish straight - began at 19:10.

The two factory Ferrari 499P Le Mans Hypercars had been running 1-2 when the race was red-flagged after four hours and 13 minutes. 

Ferrari ended up finishing third and fourth with its #50 and #51 cars after the winning #12 Jota Porsche 963 LMDh and the second-placed #6 factory Porsche Penske Motorsport entry leapfrogged the Italian cars. 

The two Porsches had pitted just before the red flag, so made up most of the time lost because the race was restarted under the safety car and then moved to the front when the cars ahead of them made their next scheduled pitstops. 

The FIA has been contacted for comment.