Is Balance of Performance 'fixed'? Le Mans argument rages on

The Italian team’s two main traditional rivals have complained bitterly about their current plight. Well, kind of.

WEC rules state that competitors are forbidden from talking about BoP in person. But that doesn’t stop some from making oblique references.

Porsche and Toyota have made lightly veiled complaints about their respective weight and power adjustments dealt so far this season, but things came to a head at the most recent round at the Six Hours of Spa, the precursor to Le Mans.

Both teams went through poor qualifying sessions before rallying to better points-scoring positions in the race – but still sounded off afterwards as Ferrari took yet another dominant 1-2.

“It seems we have our own championship with Porsche; we have been fighting with them most of the time, so I think we should create our own ‘virtual’ championship to remind us of the days when we could fight for a world championship!” said a slightly put-out Toyota technical director David Floury.

“If you told me [after qualifying] we would have one car in P7, I would have signed for it,” he continued. “For sure, we have won races executing not as well as today. So we can proud of what we have achieved since the start of the season.

“Obviously others are making mistakes and we have avoided them and we have extracted every bit of what we can extract. It’s satisfying to show again we are strong as a team, but in the end we cannot be pleased.

“It’s not what we come to race for. We race to be competitive. We are not and it is not on pure merit. We never stood a chance.”

Porsche was similarly unenthused by its Spa performance.

‟That was another disappointing result for us and not what we expected,” vice president of Porsche motor sport Thomas Laudenbach stated.

‟The team put in another good effort, even if we may not have done everything perfectly. Still, the drivers and the crew fought until the very end, and I want to thank them very much for that.

“Quite simply, we need to acknowledge that the conditions for a better result weren’t there. As always, we will analyse why, especially since the 24 Hours of Le Mans is up next.

“But I think there is also a massive need for action outside of our organisation. The race speaks for itself.”

But is the situation really that bad for the above two manufacturers – or are they trying to play the BoP game?

Other competitors suspect Toyota and Porsche are trying to ‘sandbag’ and con the FIA and WEC into thinking they’re slower than they really are, so as to put themselves in the pound seat for Le Mans.

“Porsche is playing…” said BMW driver Robin Frijns in the Spa edition of WEC’s behind-the-scenes YouTube series All Access.

“Honestly, when I look at their pictures from the garage, and the faces [of the team], I can’t believe…” replies one of his team bosses.

Meanwhile Ferrari is at least trying to give the impression of bemusement at this season’s developments.

A paddock source told Motor Sport that they calculated Ferrari’s current BoP to leave it 0.3sec per lap ahead of Toyota in Spa, not the 1.8sec margin that transpired in qualifying for that race.

So, what’s going?

“It’s a big question,” Ferrari’s WEC boss Antonello Colletta told Motor Sport recently.

“You probably you need to demand directly to Porsche. Why? I don’t know. I only see that Porsche, for example in Spa, was slower than last year.

“This is very strange, because the circuit was faster than last year, but in any case, this is not our problem. I’m sure that Porsche will be an important factor in in Le Mans.

“Let’s say: surprising,” is also the verdict from Ferrari WEC technical director Ferdinando Canizzo on the current challenge put up by Porsche and Toyota.

“I was expecting more performance from Porsche and Toyota – a lot more.

“I may speculate why this performance is not there, but nevertheless it’s quite strange, because I was expecting [it] to be really competitive in the first three races we did.

“I think that more and more we will see all the manufacturers improving – we will see some nice races. I believe Porsche and Toyota will be quicker than what they show [so far this season].”

Ask Ferrari’s championship-leading drivers what they think of the situation, and you get a range of reactions from nervous laughter to pursed lips – they know the WEC’s stance on this matter, and no doubt have a media line to toe also.

“This question I will answer the Sunday after Le Mans, because I’m pretty sure that they [Toyota and Porsche] don’t want to show their real potential until the month of Le Mans,” says 2024 winner Antonio Fuoco.

“Yeah, it looks a little bit strange to be honest,” is former F1 driver Antonio Giovinazzi’s conclusion.

“Because Toyota were the fastest last year, they won the constructors’ championship then suddenly in 2025, they weren’t there – at least in qualifying.

“But in the race, they always come back.”

Taking lap times at face value, Brendon Hartley’s 0.5sec advantage on the Le Mans test day over the on the rest of the field in his Toyota Hypercar would appear to confirm the Ferrari drivers’ takes. But then again, who takes testing times at face value?

What makes the situation further intriguing is that after winning the past two Le Mans, and having been dominant so far this year, all Ferrari staff appear to be putting a bigger emphasis on scoring points and consolidating their position at the top of the table rather than winning the big one at La Sarthe.

A championship title is the only box unticked for the Scuderia Hypercar project. Has it accepted it will be ‘Bopped’ and left with a slower car for Le Mans, and therefore have to embark upon damage limitation in the race?

“For sure, winning the title is the main goal that we have,” says Miguel Molina. “It’s very important for the championship [being a double points race].”

“I think this year, if we finished second in Le Mans and we win the championship, it’s okay,” adds Nicklas Nielsen.

It’s almost impossible to know if BoP be the deciding factor at Le Mans 2025  – but that won’t stop people arguing about it.