It was a cautious Ferrari that was preparing to return to the premier class in 2022, respectful of the more than ten years of experience gained by Toyota. Yet, at the end of the first season, Maranello’s statements reveal not disappointment, but rather a certain regret for not having won more than what they already achieved. The mood tells of a Ferrari that is aware of its capabilities, with a car that has gone beyond expectations on the eve of the race and which has every intention of applying for the role of rival for the world championship as early as 2024.
The 499P
The Hypercar made in Maranello has all the traits of a solid project. Technical manager Ferdinando Cannizzo has repeatedly underlined this the philosophical affinity between the 499P and the 296 GT3, of which the first takes up several aspects. The underlying aerodynamic concept is that of a car with a wide performance window, to remain close to peak load and grip in various driving conditions: speed, ground clearance, steering angle, yaw angle, braking pitch and roll when cornering.
The 499P also inherits the basic architecture of the twin-turbo V6 from the 296 GT3. With its 3 liters, the one from Maranello is the second most compact engine on the WEC grid, a precious quality for centralizing the masses and reducing internal friction when releasing the accelerator to save fuel. The hybrid system, however, in particular the battery and inverter, brings together the experience of the Formula 1 team, of which Ferrari GT welcomed around thirty engineers. Finally, for the gearbox we chose to design it from a blank sheet of paper rather than mount a standard unit, allowing us to optimize its weight, suspension geometry and ratios.
Ferrari’s entry into the Hypercar class comes later than Toyota. From a certain point of view this offered a small advantage, since the 499P was created immediately according to the minimum weight of 1030 kg, 70 kg lower than the original draft of the regulations. However, there was no shortage of corrections during the works that Maranello was able to manage. The main one was the obligation from 2023 to fit narrower tires at the front, 290 mm wide compared to 340 mm at the rear. All this forced Ferrari to recalibrate the weight distribution and aerodynamic balance towards the rear, but the 499P was still approved without major initial inconveniences. Finally, the immediate preparation of two cars for the test programme, one dedicated to working on performance and the other to reliability, made it possible to arrive ready for the first race of the world championship.
Growth
While it is true that it is easier to make a fast car reliable, reliability still remains a valuable tool for developing competitiveness. In fact, the two 499Ps suffered from few reliability problems, almost always arriving at the finish line and thus accumulating kilometers and data on which to work to optimize performance. The only technical problems were the problem with the electric engine of the #51 in Portugal and the electronic problems of the same car in the final stages of the 24 hours of Le Mans. The #50 however retired in the second half of the 6 Hours of Spa, however due to a driver error spoiled by the cold tyres.
The phase of the championship from Sebring to Le Mans allowed Ferrari to get to know the 499P better and better, learning to accommodate its set-up needs. “A bit’ we were all taking measurements and discovering the machines we had,” Antonello Coletta’s summary of the first three races. “There has been an evolution that I believe has made everyone grow a little, knowing our product better and developing its potential”.
Where Ferrari has made the most progress is in the mechanical set-up of the suspensions, which is not exempt from influences on aerodynamics. The work of studying and exploiting the new Michelin tires should not be overlooked either: in the 8 hours of Bahrain at the end of the year, the pit exit times show how the 499P was among the most effective cars in quickly bringing the tires up to temperature. However, this did not always emerge during the season, sometimes hidden by the use of harder compounds than the competition and therefore more difficult to warm up. In fact, on more than one occasion Ferrari has bet on alternative tire strategiesdifferentiating itself from its rivals in an attempt to stay ahead of them despite a slower paced car.
Step problem
One of the critical areas of the 499P at the start of the season was excessive tire degradation. This is also why Ferrari initially preferred to use harder tyres, but according to Michelin the situation improved during the year and the team slowly gained confidence with the softer compounds. Thanks to work on set-up and understanding the tyres, the end-of-season Ferrari showed fewer and fewer discrepancies between qualifying and long-distance performance. Race times tend to stick constant without a sudden dropHowever, this is a sign of a deterioration kept under control.
“In the first races we saw that we suffered from degradation and we tried to improve”, explains Alessandro Pier Guidi. “We optimized the set-up, also taking advantage of the knowledge of the car which improved from race to race, to ensure that this problem was mitigated”. The delay accumulated in the race pace can therefore be traced back to another cause: “We have never had a problem with tire degradation, but with pace”underlines Cannizzo.
In fact, from the drivers’ comments at the end of the season there was no problem with the car’s balance or nervousness, but rather a general satisfaction with the car’s behaviour. Conversely, the 499P at the end of 2023 simply lacks pace compared to its direct opponents, Toyota and Porsche above all. In fact, to keep tire degradation under control, Ferrari decided to sacrifice part of the performance on the flying lap and at the start of the stint, in favor of better consistency in pace. Cannizzo explains further: “If you’re not the fastest car but you want to maintain a certain pace, sometimes that impacts your whole package, not just the tyres. If you only look at the degradation though, we must be Happy with how our car handles the tires”.
Balance of Performance
The objective for Ferrari in 2024 is to bridge the gap that currently separates it from Toyota. However, whether or not the finish line is reached will not be entirely in the hands of the Cavallino, but will also depend on the new Balance of Performance tables. After Le Mans, Ferrari was on average ten kilos lighter than Toyota, but limited by 10 kW less power. A different BoP would not have been a guarantee of victory and it is indeed probable that the outcome of some races, above all Fuji, would have remained unchanged. This does not mean that the season could have offered some more satisfaction, as Coletta states: “We would have liked to win many more races. Honestly, we would have liked to win in Monza”.
The regret for the Brianza race is not only linked to the only Italian stage of the WEC. The Temple of Speed in fact went well with the characteristics of an extremely efficient car from an aerodynamic point of view. However, the 11 kW less imposed by the BoP for the 6 hours of Monza left the team with no choice but to download the aerodynamics to protect themselves on the straight, to the detriment of the life of the tyres.
The excellent efficiency of the 499P also explains this the competitiveness shown at Le Mans, where the historic affirmation arrived in the Centenary edition. Even in France there was talk of the BoP’s responsibility, although the roles were reversed, with Toyota going from 3 to 16 kg in excess of Ferrari, while retaining 3 kW more power. Net of the BoP, however, at Le Mans the world champions did not improve their times compared to the previous season, despite a car that shaved over 1 second per lap on other tracks. Ferrari therefore deserves the credit for having been able to take advantage of the only occasion in which Toyota did not reach its optimal state of form.
Missing load
It is not only on the BoP that Ferrari’s world championship chances in 2024 will depend. The excellent aerodynamic efficiency of the 499P also betrays a lack of downforce, which was especially felt on the more driven circuits at the end of the season. “Aerodynamically, we’re pretty happy with the efficiency, but what we’d like to look into further is the compromise between aerodynamic load and mechanical set-up”, Ferdinando Cannizzo’s comment in an interview with Racecar Engineering. By working on the mechanical set-up it is in fact possible to lower the height from the ground and recover the load, but it will be necessary not to stiffen the suspension excessively so as not to penalize agility in slow traffic and aggressiveness on curbs.
Just as the 499P grew during 2023 thanks to better general set-up, the same could happen in 2024, when moreover there will be three cars on the track from which to collect data. Ferrari also hasn’t yet decided how to spend the tokens to upgrade the car, but the developments they could arrive during the championship in progress and not necessarily from the first match. Furthermore, in 2024 the Cavallino will now have a year of experience behind it with the 499P, while the entry of four new tracks into the calendar will be an additional variable for everyone, including Toyota. The challenge is open.
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