Positive FIA WEC prologue for the 499P in Qatar

The FIA WEC season officially kicked off with the two-day official prologue held at the Lusail International Circuit. The circuit, which will host the Qatar 1812 KM – the opening round of the world championship – provided the stage for the first showdown between the manufacturers and teams set to animate this eagerly awaited edition of the championship. The Ferrari 499P cars followed a data collection and set-up testing programme across the four sessions, evenly split over the two days of the prologue, which took place in both daylight and night-time conditions.

Day 1. After the green light at 1 p.m. local time, the Hypercars and LMGT3s were on the track for the first three hours of unofficial practice, at the end of which the number 83 499P of AF Corse, driven by Yifei Ye, Robert Kubica, and Phil Hanson, emerged as the fastest (1’41”673), with the number 51 of Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, and Antonio Giovinazzi third, half a second behind. The number 50, with Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, and Nicklas Nielsen at the wheel, finished fifth, a tenth behind its sister car. On a circuit where grip was not yet optimal, the two Ferrari – AF Corse cars completed 62 and 56 laps respectively before returning to the track at 6 p.m. for the session held under artificial lights. Cooler temperatures and a more targeted approach to fine-tuning and optimising set-ups led to significant improvements in lap times. The best-placed 499P was the number 50, third (1’39”801), just two tenths behind the number 12 Cadillac. The number 83 finished fifth, less than seven tenths off the fastest time, just ahead of the number 51, which was 779 thousandths off the top. The four-hour session saw an extensive number of laps completed: 108 for the number 50 and 106 for the number 51.

Day 2. Weather and track conditions comparable to those recorded on the first day of the prologue characterised the two Saturday sessions. The first session, which was long interrupted by a red flag, saw Ferrari put in strong performances, closing in second place with the number 83 (1’40”777), third with the number 50, and fifth with the number 51. The session, which ended at 4 p.m., saw 84 and 82 timed laps recorded respectively.

In the fourth and final session, which was also interrupted by a red flag, the programme was varied across the cars to gather further data and insights into car and tyre behaviour as track temperatures and grip levels changed. The gaps between the crews were very tight, with nine cars within less than six-tenths of a second. Once again, the number 83 499P was the fastest among the Ferraris, with a time just 170 thousandths slower than the number 20 BMW at the top of the standings, securing third place. The number 50 finished sixth, completing 104 laps, with its fastest time 396 thousandths behind the leaders, while the sister number 51, also with 104 laps completed, ended 597 thousandths off the top.