Le Mans is the temple. Ferrari wins again at the 24 Hours and is also a candidate for the world endurance title. He could have won at Imola (where he made a mistake), he could have done it at Spa (where the result is still sub-judice) and he achieved the most prestigious success, the one that remains engraved in history, in front of a record audience that paid him tribute that Antonello Coletta’s team has earned and deserves.
Last year, in the Centenary edition, the success of the 499P was a bit of a surprise, even if the return of the Cavallino to fight for the overall title after 50 years had sparked a lot of hope. Lots of expectations, but no certainties because the Maranello Hypercar had never completed the 24 Hours distance. And then the pole position of Antonio Fuoco and the two red cars in the front row at the start had created a connection with the past, giving a clear sign of continuity, that the DNA had not undergone mutations after half a century. The photo of the start with the Ferraris in front was the sign that the challenge was accepted, to write another chapter in history.
The winners of the 24H of Le Mans #50 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen
Photo by: Emanuele Clivati | AG Photo
The bogeyman was Toyota, often solitary ruler of the previous five years: the Japanese had built a squadron without defects, with unlimited experience. Yet in the two-way match they lost. Oh yes, because the match was Toyota – Ferrari with the others acting as a corollary. The small Cavallino team against the largest car manufacturer in the world. And Antonello’s staff had managed a miracle: beating the Japanese, making them gnaw like never before thanks to Alessandro Pier Guidi, Antonio Giovinazzi and James Calado. A heavy defeat that had left behind a trail of controversy fueled by none other than the leadership of the Japanese House.
It was said that the BoP (Balance of Performance) had been specifically decided for the 499P which had only won at Le Mans, while all the other WEC races had been easily the prerogative of Toyota. Rumors, which were promptly refuted this year. In 2024, the big favorite was supposed to be Porsche, which fielded no less than six 963s, with Toyota, still empty of victories, eager to make a change in the more fraught season than expected.
But this 24 Hours of Le Mans will have a special flavor in the history of Sarthe. There wasn’t a two-way challenge, as often happened, but it was a game open to four brands: Cadillac, in pole position, followed by Porsche, Ferrari and Toyota. The BoP, usually the cause of discrimination and fierce controversy, this time had the merit of “evening” the performances. A sort of miracle, considering that it is the result of complicated calculations complete with algorithms. The Germans complained about Ferrari and Toyota hiding precisely to “deserve” a more favorable BoP, but this is part of the game. Strategies matter as much as performance.
#50 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen
Photo credit: Rainier Ehrhardt
Like last year, Ferrari opened the “saraband” in the lead by closing the first lap with Nicklas Nielsen in the lead and closed it in the lead by triumphing with the 27-year-old Dane, a product born and raised in the Cavallino starting from the Ferrari Challenge. It was a very tough four-way battle, made terribly difficult by the rain which was the great protagonist of this edition. Every tactic that could have been studied on the drawing board came to fruition due to the sudden showers of water (during the night there were four and a half hours of safety car due to almost zero visibility) and one of the winning characteristics was certainly adaptability as conditions change.
The 499P feared the wet and won in the downpour: the Ferrari drivers knew that with cold tires they would have to pay to get the tires up to temperature and had to drive like they were on eggs, while, in particular, the 963 knew how to “turn on” the tires arriving at the Hunaudieres straight already being able to exploit the potential of the car.
Coletta, before the race, had raised an alarm signal, inviting the FIA to keep an eye on it because, according to him, there were those who managed to… warm up the tyres. And, according to her rumors, Porsche itself would have found a brilliant way to achieve the goal. The set to be assembled in Imola would have been placed between the tractors of the trucks that were being set in motion. But the solution was visible to everyone and then banned, while in Le Mans the train would have ended up in the computer server room taking advantage of a temperature higher than the environmental one foreseen by the regulation.
In short, everyone developed ideas and tricks to look for every opportunity to make a small (big) difference (the 499P lost 10-12 seconds on the launch lap, while the 963 lost just over half).
Ferrari was cynical, harsh, mean. He received a number of penalties that would have sapped the morale of the most optimistic. And, instead, the team, the drivers have always been able to react with an extraordinary, granitic character, returning every time they seemed destined to leave the scene. We also saw some “roughness” between drivers (credit should also be given to the yellow 83 which was in contention until the hybrid was knocked out), a sign that there was a clear desire to believe in the final success.
The podium of the 24 Hours of Le Mans with two Ferrari crews, first and third, and with Toyota second
Photo by: Marc Fleury
Well, this ability to know how to start over many times in the same 24 Hours is a characteristic that we don’t see exercised in the same way in the F1 team: if things don’t work according to the schemes dictated by the computers there is a shipwreck like in Canada. We expect to be proven wrong in Spain next weekend.
The imponderable is part of the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Ferrari: last year Pier Guidi was lucid in doing a reset of the electronics at the last pit stop, when the 499P grumbled but didn’t start again. The man from Tortono, ably guided by the technical chief Cannizzo, had coolly controlled a terrifying situation. The script repeated itself this year with a door that didn’t close properly and which forced the #51 to make a forced stop, once again shaking up every strategy studied.
#50 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen
Photo by: Alexander Trienitz
The rain, this time blessed, allowed Niklas Nielsen to sip the last full tank to reach the finish line, where Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina were waiting for him, with only 2% of energy. The wall had dictated to the Dane the “pace” to take to get to the checkered flag, not caring that the Toyota #7 of Lopez/Kobayashi/De Vries arrived at just 14.2 seconds. The Japanese are also gnawing at the missed victory this year, but the GR010 Hybrid ended up in the grip of two Ferraris: the victorious crew in 2023 (Alessandro Pier Guidi/James Calado/Antonio Giovinazzi) also climbed onto the podium, demonstrating a superiority which emerged increasingly clear in the long run.
President John Elkann will be happy: he was the first to believe in the project proposed by Antonello Coletta and now he is enjoying a second success which sublimates a program which sees Ferrari beating very prestigious manufacturers. Fred Vasseur was at Le Mans: now it’s up to him to transfer to F1 the same courage that the Maranello staff showed in the 24 Hours…
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