FIA WEC: Tough weekend for Nicklas Nielsen at Interlagos

It was a disappointing Sunday for Nicklas Nielsen, who finished outside the points in round five of the FIA World Endurance Championship after a challenging race in Brazil.

Nielsen and his teammates from Ferrari’s factory team were unable to replicate the strong pace they showed at Le Mans in this weekend’s six-hour race at Interlagos. The Dane finished 12th in the 18-car Hypercar field – and it wasn’t just a lack of speed that made things difficult.

During the race, Nicklas Nielsen, Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina were forced to pit to replace the rear section of the bodywork on their Ferrari 499P, which had been damaged following contact with a GT car – a setback that made an already difficult race even tougher.

“We knew going into the weekend that it would be a hard race. We struggled with pace in practice and started outside the top 10 after missing out on Hyperpole. Still, we managed to climb through the field during the first half of the race and started seeing a chance to score points – but then we were hit in the rear by a GT car, and race control called us into the pits to repair the damage,” said Nicklas Nielsen.

“In our view, it wasn’t fair. We weren’t at fault, and the damage was limited to a small piece of the rear wing that simply fell off. There was no safety risk in continuing the race and fixing the car during our next planned pit stop. But instead, we were immediately ordered in, which effectively took us out of the fight,” the Dane explained.

“It just wasn’t our weekend, and of course it’s extremely frustrating to head home without points for the second race in a row. All we can do now is look ahead and hope for a big comeback in Austin this September.”

With no points from either Le Mans – where Nielsen and his teammates were stripped of a fourth-place finish due to a disqualification – or São Paulo, Nielsen, Fuoco and Molina have dropped to fourth in the provisional championship standings. The drivers’ title is currently led by their teammates in the sister car, while Ferrari continues to dominate the manufacturers’ championship.

Round six of the FIA World Endurance Championship takes place on 7 September at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.