Ferrari takes everything: in Austin it also wins the endurance world championship

In the Italian night, Ferrari also triumphed in the 2024 Fia Wec, the world endurance championship, winning the sixth event of the season – the Lone Stars Le Mans – on the Circuit of The Americas in Austin. The 499P number 83 won, shared by the official drivers Yifei Ye and Robert Shwartzman together with Robert Kubica. Another hypercar gem from Maranello climbed onto the Texan podium, the 499P number 50 driven by Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen, the winning crew of the last 24 Hours of Le Mans. The third Rossa, number 51 with Pier Guidi-Calado-Giovinazzi, was unlucky, having started from pole but was forced to retire after a contact. Not far from the success at Imola in F1 with Charles Leclerc, the big party in Texas: for Ferrari, a historic day.

Unlucky Giovinazzi, but what a party with Shwartzman!

In the second of the 6-hour race, the number 51 with Giovinazzi at the wheel had to raise the white flag after contact with a Lexus that irreparably damaged a wheel and the transmission. The other two 499Ps continued to battle for the top positions with the number 7 Toyota, which was forced to serve a drive-through penalty with 45 minutes to go. At the checkered flag, Shwartzman in the Modena yellow-liveried Ferrari crossed the finish line first for the AF Corse team crew; completing the Ferrari party was Antonio Fuoco, third after the excellent work done by Nicklas Nielsen in the central part of the race. Ferrari thus consolidates its third position in the constructors’ standings, moving to 19 points from Toyota; in the drivers’ standings, Fuoco-Molina-Nielsen reduce the gap from the leaders to 12 points. AF Corse moves into second position in the independent teams’ standings.

Antonello Coletta: «A race to frame»

“I am very happy, today we have written a page of history for Ferrari and for our team”, smiles Robert Shwartzman. “A very difficult race, Toyota put a lot of pressure on us. I want to thank the whole team and my teammates, it was an exceptional job. After the retirement at Le Mans, where we were protagonists for a long time, I was waiting for a happy moment like this”. Antonello Coletta, Global Head of Endurance: “A great day for Ferrari, which after the victory at Monza in 1 has managed to win, on the same day, also in the Fia Wec. It is the third success after the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year and 2023, and the first valid for the overall classification of the AF Corse customer team with the 499P number 83. Congratulations to the whole team and the three drivers: Kubica’s start, Ye’s central phase and Shwartzman’s grand finale are worth framing”.