Olivier Jasonnie said that it was disappointing not to stand on the podium after Ferrari were penalised for exceeding their tyre allocation.
Peugeot’s World Endurance Championship programme technical director told media about the disappointment to not celebrate their only podium of the 2024 season.
He said: “It’s a shame for us but it’s also a shame, frankly, because I think it would have been a different end to the race, not only for us.
“The pace is the most dictated by the amount of tyres you are using.
“… If we just look at us, we’ve been constantly slow in the beginning of the race because we’re trying to save tyres and then faster by the end because we have fresh tyres.
“I think that we probably underestimated how big the difference between the two cars [pre- and post- new 2024 car].
“And what we have to learn again on this new car took us some time. We are finally getting there.
“We thought we could transfer much more data from the old car but it was pretty different.
“… By the time we are running this car more and more on different tracks, we now see where the weaknesses are.”
Peugeot’s podium pursuit from last place
The #93 Peugeot 9X8 Hypercar and co-drivers Mikkel Jensen, Nico Muller and Jean-Eric Vergne took the manufacturers’ first podium of the season.
AF Corse lost their second place finish with the #51 Ferrari 499P Hypercar.
They received an additional two-lap penalty for exceeding the 26-Michelin tyre allocation which pushed the #51 down to last in the Hypercar running order.
Nico Muller’s lap times in qualifying were deleted after he exceeded track limits so started in P18 – last place.
The race featured two virtual safety car periods which enabled both Hypercar and LMGT3 classes to close up.
Given the hot and humid conditions in Bahrain, combined with the eight-hour race duration, tyre management was key during the race.
Hypercar teams experimented with changing only left-side tyres – which undergone the most stress – whether it was between the medium or hard slick tyre compound.
Peugeot were denied a podium when they ran out of fuel at the Qatar 1812 km season-opener, although that was the final race with the previous ‘wingless’ 9X8.
The 2024 season finale marked the first podium for Peugeot with the new car, having scored their previous season-best finish of fourth at Fuji.
READ MORE: Peugeot’s Jansonnie: Tyre dimension size change necessitated rear wing addition
