{"id":1296,"date":"2026-04-18T13:29:25","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T13:29:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/?p=1296"},"modified":"2026-04-18T18:48:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T18:48:14","slug":"wec-ferrari-back-on-top-at-imola-fuoco-sets-the-pace-in-fp3-with-alpine-chasing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wec-ferrari-back-on-top-at-imola-fuoco-sets-the-pace-in-fp3-with-alpine-chasing\/","title":{"rendered":"Ferrari Back on Top at Imola: Fuoco Sets the Pace in FP3 with Alpine chasing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Prancing Horse reclaimed the spotlight at Imola, finishing at the top of the third and final free practice session for the 6 Hours of Imola. Antonio Fuoco led a strong showing for the Italian manufacturer, while Alpine confirmed its status as a serious contender.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

IMOLA<\/strong> \u2013 After Alpine momentarily broke their streak in Friday\u2019s second session, Ferrari returned to the front of the field in the final practice session (FP3) of the 2026 FIA WEC season opener. In front of a passionate home crowd, the Maranello-based squad demonstrated the raw speed of the 499P, setting a high bar ahead of this afternoon\u2019s qualifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fuoco Dominates the Morning<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Antonio Fuoco<\/strong> was the star of the hour-long session. Driving the #50 Ferrari 499P<\/strong>, the Italian driver set a blistering time of 1:30.370<\/strong> early in the session using Soft Michelin tires. His lap was three-tenths faster than the sister car, the #51 Ferrari<\/strong>, driven by Antonio Giovinazzi<\/strong>, who secured second place with a 1:30.693. These times suggest that Ferrari has optimized its setup for the technical demands of the Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alpine and Privateer Ferrari in the Hunt<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Alpine proved that yesterday\u2019s performance was no fluke. Charles Milesi<\/strong>, behind the wheel of the #35 Alpine A424<\/strong>, prevented a factory Ferrari 1-2-3 by clocking a 1:30.712<\/strong>. The French prototype finished just four-tenths behind Fuoco, signaling that the Alpine crew will be a major threat in the fight for Hyperpole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Close behind was the #83 AF Corse Ferrari<\/strong>, with Robert Kubica<\/strong> posting a 1:30.894 to take fourth, ensuring that three Ferraris occupied the top four positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strategy and Competition<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

While the top four runners utilized Soft tires, Toyota<\/strong> and Cadillac<\/strong> focused on the Medium compound for their fastest laps. Nyck de Vries<\/strong> was the best of the medium-shod drivers, placing the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid<\/strong> in fifth. The session was not without its challenges for other manufacturers; BMW<\/strong> faced a difficult morning as the #15 M Hybrid V8 suffered radiator issues, limiting its track time and leaving the team with work to do before qualifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The competitiveness of the Hypercar class remained high, with the top nine cars all within one second of the lead pace. Peugeot rounded out the top ten, while the Genesis Magma Racing<\/strong> team showed significant progress, finishing 12th and narrowing the gap to the front-runners to just 1.2 seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LMGT3: Aston Martin Maintains Momentum<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In the LMGT3 category, the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage<\/strong> continued its strong form. Mattia Drudi<\/strong> delighted the local fans by setting the fastest time of 1:41.973<\/strong>, narrowly edging out the #33 TF Sport Corvette by a mere 0.025 seconds. The session confirmed a incredibly tight field, with 16 of the 18 GT3 entries finishing within a second of each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next Steps: Qualifying<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

With practice now concluded, the focus shifts entirely to the qualifying sessions this afternoon. Ferrari looks to be the favorite for pole position, but with Alpine, Toyota, and Cadillac all showing different strategic strengths, the battle for the first starting grid of the 2026 season remains wide open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FP3 Top 5 Times (Hypercar):<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  1. #50 Ferrari<\/strong> \u2013 1:30.370<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. #51 Ferrari<\/strong> \u2013 +0.323<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. #35 Alpine<\/strong> \u2013 +0.342<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. #83 Ferrari<\/strong> \u2013 +0.524<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. #7 Toyota<\/strong> \u2013 +0.576<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The Prancing Horse reclaimed the spotlight at Imola, finishing at the top of the third and final free practice session for the 6 Hours of Imola. Antonio Fuoco led a strong showing for the Italian manufacturer, while Alpine confirmed its status as a serious contender. IMOLA \u2013 After Alpine momentarily broke their streak in Friday\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1297,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wec"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1296"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1311,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1296\/revisions\/1311"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}