IMSA | Risi's Ferrari 499P idea? “It takes 2 years and a lot of money”

Since it was presented in October 2022, the Ferrari 499P has warmed the hearts of all fans of the world of endurance and prototype racing.

Destined as we know to race in the FIA ​​World Endurance Championship, the Maranello Hypercar made its debut last year by achieving a historic victory at the 24h of Le Mans and in the wake of the success obtained thanks also to the podiums achieved in the other championship races, in 2024 the there will be three examples.

This is because AF Corse, which already knows the car as the reference team chosen by Ferrari for this adventure in the WEC Hypercar Class, has taken a further step by entering a private 499P with the #83 at the start of next season.

There has been talk of possible private teams for Hypercars for some time and even overseas someone is thinking about it. In the IMSA SportsCar Championship at the moment the main category is made up of the LMDh prototypes, which are cheaper than the LMH in terms of costs, but certainly not easier to manage.

In the American championship, the reference customer team for Ferrari is Risi Competizione, which brought the 296 GT3 to success in the GTD PRO Class at the recent 24h of Daytona.

And precisely during the race held in Florida last weekend, the team leader, Giuseppe Risi, was reached by the microphones of IMSA Radio to talk about a possible commitment in IMSA with the 499P.

“The 499P is a truly very complex car, it could also be deployed as a private team, but it requires a very important financial commitment for this to happen”, immediately underlined Risi, who then also wanted to highlight the great work that the men of the Cavallino Rampant they have done and still to be done on the car.

“I think we need to wait a couple of years, so that Ferrari has everything in hand. Now it will face its second season in the FIA ​​WEC, in which it will have the opportunity to solve all the problems and extract the potential that the car has “.

“After that, a private individual will be able to take it over; if necessary, we can think about it, but obviously significant financial support is needed.”

Photo by: Ferrari

#51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi

Risi glossed over the regulatory issue which would see IMSA forced to review the Balance Of Performance assignment plans, mixing the LMHs with the LMDhs as happens in the WEC.

In the meantime, however, he said he is happy with the work that his men are doing with the 296 GT3, while a possible step up in category will be seen in the future.

“At the moment we haven't talked about it seriously, but I've been in the Ferrari world for a very long time and I know that many things are said, just as many others remain unsaid.”