Ferrari was the last major manufacturer to present the new car for the 2023 World Endurance Championship. The Italian brand will compete in the LMH category with the 499P. For the first time in 50 years, Ferrari will have a works team in the top category at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
“The rule changes offered a good opportunity,” says Ferrari sports car boss Antonello Coletta about the reasons for the comeback. “We’ve won a lot in the GT classes and the rules are being changed there too.”
“It all contributed to us making the decision to come back to the prototypes.” The 499P is built and developed in Maranello. The sports car department can rely on the resources and know-how of the Formula 1 division.
The budget limit was recently introduced in Formula 1. On the one hand, this frees up money for other motorsport activities. On the other hand, Formula 1 personnel can theoretically switch to this area and find a new field of activity.
Are the budget ceiling and the return to long-haul routes related? “No,” replies Coletta, “we made this decision before the budget limit in Formula 1. It was a strategic decision and has nothing to do with the budget limit.”
In the LMH category, the manufacturers build the car completely themselves, compared to the LMDh regulations, which BMW, for example, has opted for. In addition to Ferrari, Toyota, Glickenhaus and Peugeot also compete according to LMH rules.
How much Formula 1 technology is in the Ferrari 499P? “Ferrari is a big company. Of course we want to use all the opportunities that are available. All areas are involved, including the sporting and industrial side,” said the sports car boss.
The new prototype is powered by a three-liter V6 engine. Then there is the hybrid system. Ferrari has a lot of Formula 1 experience in these areas: “We took the battery from Formula 1, the technology of the battery. The rest is completely new.”
“We put our best into this car”
“We gathered our knowledge around a table when we developed the plans for this car,” says Coletta. “We put together the people and the technical knowledge. The result that you can see is very good.”
“We chose LMH because it is important for Ferrari to build the complete car. Ferrari is the designer and manufacturer of these cars. It is not part of our philosophy to buy parts of the car.”
“We decided to go back to the prototypes because the rules allow us to build the complete car. I hope we can compete successfully against the other manufacturers. We put our best into this car.”
Toyota and Glickenhaus have been using their LMH cars in competitions for the past year. Peugeot made its debut at the 6 Hours of Monza this season. “Of course we have less time than the competition because we’ve only been testing since July,” says Coletta.
“At the moment I don’t want to answer how many hours we can do in the tests. I can say that I’m satisfied with our results. I hope it continues in this direction because I think it’s the right way .”
Ferrari is under pressure to succeed
At the end of the year the homologation of the 499P will take place. Until then, a lot can still be changed. According to Coletta, the current configuration corresponds “largely” to the one that will be submitted to the FIA.
Its race debut is scheduled for mid-March 2023 at the Sebring 1,000 in the United States. Toyota and Peugeot have had great successes in endurance racing in the recent past. More than five decades have passed at Ferrari.
With nine overall victories (seven of them as a works team), Ferrari is the third-best brand in the history of the 24 Hours of Le Mans behind Porsche and Audi. The last Ferrari victory was in 1965 with the private 250 LM of Jochen Rindt and Masten Gregory.
Ferrari is under pressure to succeed. “Of course pressure is important and it’s very high. But that’s always the case when Ferrari enters a new class,” says Coletta. “I think we’ve built a very good car.”
“Compared to the other manufacturers, we’re late, but first we have to be consistent. Reliability will be the most important result. Then, of course, there’s the speed on the track.”