Get To Know Ferrari 499P More, Ferrari's New Hope At The FIA WEC Event

Ferrari 499P is in action at the Sebring circuit, Florida. (Doc. Ferrari)

JAKARTA - Ferrari returns to its main class of endurance racing events after a 50-year hiatus. With a new prototype car, Ferrari 499P, the manufacturer with the gungkrak horse logo is ready to be a challenger.

Competing at the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) in the Hypercar first class, Ferrari must fight with several other major manufacturers, namely Toyota, Cadillac, Porsche, Peugeot and others.

In the first round of the FIA WEC racing 1000 Miles of Sebring, 499P was able to bring the pole position in its debut through the No.50 car driven by Antonio Fuoco. This is the first pole in the main class since 1973 through racers Carlos Pace and Arturo Merario.

In the race itself, the car was able to reach the 3rd podium behind two Toyota in a No.50 which was filled by Miguel Molina, Antonio Fuoco, and Nicklas Nielsen.

Well, before debuting at the FIA WEC, Ferrari along with the AF Corse manufacturing team have also conducted repeated trials with 499P.

Reporting from the Chequered flag in January, the first trial was conducted in July 2022. The total distance traveled by Ferrari 499P from the first trial to before the first race was more than 16,000 km. Trials were carried out on various circuits such as Aragon, Vallelunga, Monza, and Sebring.

The Ferrari 499P is designed by two Italian engineers, namely Ferdinando Cannizzo and Flavio Manzoni. The prototype car is equipped with a Tipo F163 2,992 cc V6 twin-turbocharged engine, the same engine as the Ferrari 296 GT3 racing version.

The 499P V6 engine is combined with an electric motor as well as an x-trac manual transmission of seven accelerations which can generate 671 dk of power.

Ferrari fielded two 499P cars for the 2023 season, namely No.50 which consisted of Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, and Nicklas Nielsen, and No.51 which were filled by James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi, and Alessandro Pier Guidi.

With the promising initial performance of 499P, of course, Ferrari has the hope of winning the FIA WEC and winning the 100th race of 24 Hours Le Mans which will take place next June.