Lilou Wadoux and Robert Shwartzman completed the Rookie Test of the FIA World Endurance Championship in Bahrain with a big smile, where they tested the Ferrari 499P for the first time.
Both were chosen by the Prancing Horse to ride the LMH prepared by AF Corse which fought until the end for the world title, as well as won the 24h of Le Mans.
Assisted by Alessandro Pier Guidi, the two official Ferrari Competizioni GT drivers were able to discover the Maranello Hypercar in 30 laps each, with Shwartzman achieving the reference time throughout the day in 1’48″559, while the Wadoux improved along the way, reaching a 1’49″488, fifth overall in the combined morning-afternoon rankings.
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
#51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Lilou Wadoux
“Today I fulfilled a dream, that of driving the 499P that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the most important endurance race in the world, at the end of my first year as a Prancing Horse driver. Last year, again in Bahrain, I had tried a Hypercar for the first time. This occasion, however, was really special: I had fun putting myself to the test with this car. I enjoyed every single lap”, said the Frenchwoman, who then stopped to talk to the journalists present in Sakhir, including Motorsport.com.
“I am very happy to have tried the 499P, there were many things to understand because it is a very difficult car in terms of procedures to follow in the cockpit, but I learned a lot. Naturally I had to change my style compared to the GT because it is a to drive completely differently.”
“It was just a test, so I didn’t push to the max and the times improved little by little. I just thought about riding and trying to do my best.”
Regarding the future, for now the 22-year-old transalpine is not making any statements, aware that her journey in Maranello has just begun, even if the experience with the LMP2 prototypes made in 2022 is a good starting point from a future perspective and expands the experience acquired .
“At the moment I don’t know what I will do in 2024, we will decide together with the team, but if there were to be the possibility of getting into the 499P, it is clear that I would need to train a lot because it is a different car than usual and the owners are obviously more experienced in a championship of the highest level.”
“I would need a lot of tests, in which case I wouldn’t hold back; getting up there is still the objective. I always want to improve and this test was also an opportunity to do so. In the meantime we have collected a lot of data that we will analyze, it will be useful for the next test” .
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
#51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Lilou Wadoux, Robert Shwartzman
Still speaking to the press, Shwartzman opened up much more, clearly explaining what his ambitions are.
“I finally got to drive the Ferrari Hypercar, it was a really interesting day with which I am very satisfied both for the performance and for the speed with which I managed to adapt to this car. Having set the best time at the end of the day makes me happy,” explains the Russian.
“Now I have experience in different categories, including single-seaters, GTs and prototypes. Here I tried many solutions including new, used, end-of-life, hard and medium tyres, and set-ups; in general I felt very comfortable with the car, obtaining good performance, even though I only did 30 laps.”
“This test was mostly to see how I would feel with the car and I think I was fast, discovering how it behaves in various situations. From my point of view it went well, considering that I only had half a day of testing at simulator to understand how it worked. I found out at the last moment and there were a lot of new features, so I tried to be as fast as possible in the shortest time.”
“It was very useful for understanding various things, such as braking points, lines, gear changes. It’s a job I also do with F1 and it helps, especially when there’s no way to test much on the track.”
“When I put on the new tires I had sensations very similar to Formula 2, which was excellent because I rediscovered something familiar. Let’s say that the LMH is halfway between F1 and GT. There is less aerodynamic load than the single-seaters, it is heavier and you can feel it when cornering, but in terms of engine power and gear downshifts we are close.”
“I liked it a lot and I felt it was closer to my style, sometimes in the GT I found it difficult to fix it, causing a bit of confusion. Instead this one is clearer for me and I understand better what is happening, adapting my style and telling engineers what needs to change.”
Photo by: Shameem Fahath
Robert Shwartzman, Ferrari AF Corse
Shwartzman’s 2023 is spent between work with the Formula 1 team – of which he is reserve and simulator attendant – and GT World Challenge with the 296 GT3, a car which he struggled to get hold of. But for the future he has no shortage of ambitions and his words are very clear.
“I’m open to everything, I don’t want to focus solely on a category like F1. After this test I sincerely hope that there will be the opportunity to try the Hypercar again and perhaps race in it, naturally gaining the necessary experience.”
“For now I have the F1 Free Practice in Abu Dhabi and the post-season tests on the agenda, then we’ll see what happens. In general I’ve seen that I adapt very quickly to what I drive and it doesn’t take me long to be fast. I learn quickly and I’m proud of it, after a year of GT3 I think I understand how endurance works well and the goal is to take a step forward for 2024.”
“I’m obviously aiming to race with Ferrari in Hypercar in the future, I hope they take me into consideration. After this test I think I’ve shown where I am and, personally, I feel ready. We’ll have to talk about it with the team depending on the commitments I have and the calendars, given that I have a contract to be a reserve in F1. However, GT3 suits me very well and doing it in the WEC would be excellent.”
“With the 296 we suffered at the beginning, especially for the BoP and some technical problems; it was a new car and there was the risk that it was too fast compared to the others, so I understand that prudent decisions were made. In the first We struggled for three races, but the performances weren’t bad and personally I felt good. In Spa I was fast, in Barcelona we found the reliability and pace with the right BoP, so we managed to win.”
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