WEC | AF Corse on the podium, Ferrari smile: “And we can do better”

The 2024 season of AF Corse with its new Ferrari 499P began with the podium achieved among the private teams entered in the Hypercar Class of the FIA ​​World Endurance Championship.

The team from Piacenza is not a beginner with the Maranello hybrid prototype, given that since last year it has also been responsible for the official #50 and #51, but the adventure of the #83 driven by Yifei Ye, Robert Shwartzman and Robert Kubica is certainly something to discover from various points of view.

The trio worked well together and behaved well in Lusail during the collective tests of the Prologue, and then faced the difficult 1812 km of Qatar with determination.

In Qualifying it was Ye who sat in the car, reaching the 12th fastest time and missing out by just 65 thousandths on the Top 10 which would have allowed him to compete for the Hyperpole in the next phase.

“It was a complicated qualifying session, we didn't place where we would have liked to be, but we were aware of our potential and we hoped to show it in the race – said the Chinese – Obviously there is still a gap to close against the cars from head, so we knew we had to work hard ahead of the race.”

Team Manager, Gabriele Marazzi, added: “It was the official debut of our young team. Unfortunately the result of Qualifying was not what we hoped for, but we were very confident for the race. The beauty of endurance racing is that anything can happen.”

It was not an easy weekend for the Ferraris and the potential of the Prancing Horse cars did not prove sufficient to be able to counter the excellent Porsches, who dominated the scene, as well as Peugeot and Cadillac.

With tooth and nail, Kubica started the comeback starting from the sixth row – after a slight problem with radio communication resolved on the grid – then it was the turn of Ye and Shwartzman, the latter protagonist of a good duel against Toyota before suffering a hit from the #91 Porsche (sanctioned by the stewards) and having to return to the pits to replace the rear part of the bodywork.

In the second half the recovery continued and sixth position later became Top5 when the Peugeot #93 ran out of fuel and slowed down at the end, thus achieving the first podium in the special 'FIA World Cup for Hypercar Teams' ranking behind the Porsche # 12 by Jota, as well as being the best of the 499Ps at the finish line.

“We are proud of the great work done by the whole team. We prepared hard for this first appointment in the short time available and the verdict of the track was on our side”, continues Marazzi.

“All the guys worked very well, making ten perfect pit stops. Robert, Yifei and Robert maintained a very fast race pace, achieving the best possible result. Now we must continue on this path and aim even higher in our race. house in Imola”.

#83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Robert Kubica, Robert Shwartzman, Yifei Ye

Photo by: Shameem Fahath

Kubica adds: “It was a long and intense week, during which we all worked very hard, achieving almost as much as possible. I am convinced that we can always do even better, but considering the little time available to prepare, today we achieved something to be proud of.”

“I want to thank the boys for the great work done in recent months, also because they haven't had many hours of rest in recent nights. Now we're going home to recharge our batteries and prepare ourselves better for the next stages.”

Shwartzman comments: “The result is undoubtedly positive. After testing and qualifying we knew that the race would not be easy, as it proved, but I think that as a team we must be happy with fifth place and second in the classification reserved for private teams.”

“It's a shame because during my stint I suffered a contact with an LMGT3 car which forced us to change the rear wing, making us lose 30 precious seconds.”

Ye comments: “I am really very happy to have achieved fifth place here in Qatar in my first race with Ferrari. The race was not easy with many ups and downs, but we were good at managing every situation and obtaining this undoubtedly positive result.”

“We bid farewell to Lusail, aware of having done a good job and, at the same time, we know that we must continue to work because there are numerous margins for improvement in view of Imola.”