Inside the Ferrari 499P: Racing’s Most Beautiful Car
▼ Summary
– Ferrari provided travel and accommodations for Ars to attend the Lone Star Le Mans race, with Ars maintaining its policy against accepting paid editorial content.
– The World Endurance Championship has transitioned from LMP1 hybrids to Hypercars, which are advanced, closed-top race cars with complex hybrid systems and durable designs.
– Ferrari has achieved significant success in endurance racing, winning Le Mans for three consecutive years and currently leading both the manufacturer’s and driver’s championships.
– The Ferrari 499P Hypercar was developed and raced within 18 months, winning its first Le Mans attempt in 2023 after a 50-year absence from top-level endurance racing.
– Ferrari’s endurance racing head attributes their success to the team’s maturity and surprising performance, noting they defeated long-dominant competitors like Toyota as newcomers.
Ferrari arranged travel and accommodations for a visit to the Lone Star Le Mans event in Austin, Texas. The World Endurance Championship has now reached its 100th race, marking a significant evolution from the earlier LMP1 hybrid era to today’s Hypercar class. These closed-cockpit prototypes feature some of the most advanced hybrid powertrains outside Formula 1, wrapped in dramatic bodywork that looks like it belongs in a superhero film. Built for extreme durability, these machines endure distances that dwarf typical Grand Prix races, this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans winner completed 3,276 miles, compared to a standard 190-mile F1 race that might last just over an hour. One standout difference from F1 is Ferrari’s current dominance in endurance racing.
The Italian marque has now secured victory at Le Mans for three consecutive years, achieving a remarkable hat trick after a five-decade absence from the top category. This season has proven even more successful, with Ferrari leading both the manufacturers’ and drivers’ championships with its factory #51 entry. Its nearest competitor for the drivers’ title is another Ferrari, the #83 car fielded by privateer squad AF Corsa. An invitation to join the team at the Circuit of the Americas provided a firsthand look at the operation behind this winning streak.
Antonello Coletta, who leads Ferrari’s endurance racing efforts, explained the scale of the challenge. Returning to top-level motorsport after half a century was no simple task. Just eighteen months after the 499P project received approval, the car made its competitive debut at Sebring in 2023, a notoriously rough former World War II airfield that pushes any race car to its limits. Later that same year, the 499P claimed victory at Le Mans in its very first attempt.
Under the skin, a turbocharged V6 engine drives the rear wheels, while an electric motor provides additional power to the front axle, though it only engages at speeds above 100 mph.
So what lies behind this success? Coletta points to the element of surprise. Toyota had dominated the championship for years, yet Ferrari arrived as a newcomer and immediately won the world’s most famous endurance race. Winning the first four races, including Le Mans, reflects the team’s rapid growth and technical maturity. According to Coletta, the commitment to this challenge has been total, and the experience gained by both the team and its drivers has been fundamental to these impressive results.
(Source: Ars Technica)
