Ferrari 499P
Ferrari took the lead from the beginning
Starting from pole position, car No. 51 led the race from the beginning, but due to two drive-through penalties, it finished in third place behind cars No. 50 and No. 83.
The final race of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) season opener, the “Qatar 1812km” race, kicked off at 2:00 PM local time on February 28th at the Lusail International Circuit in Qatar. This marked the beginning of a long and grueling 10-hour race. In the early stages of the race, the pole-sitter, the Ferrari 499 No. 51 (drivers Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, and Antonio Giovinazzi), took the lead. Starting from third on the grid, the No. 50 car quickly rose to second place, giving Ferrari a 1-2 lead in the race.
Each driver controlled the 499P with solid performance, and Ferrari continued to run without any major problems. Even in difficult situations where the safety car was deployed multiple times, the team overcame them with perfect race management and tire selection.
However, the #51 car was given two drive-through penalties during the race, which meant it lost the lead to the #50 car and dropped it to third place behind the satellite team’s #83 car (Robert Kubica, Ye Yifei, Philip Hansson). Nevertheless, Guidi recorded the fastest lap of 1 minute 41.259 seconds on lap 141.
Fuoco, who was assigned to the final stint in car number 50, completed 318 laps and finished in first place, 2.348 seconds ahead of second-place car number 83 and 2.677 seconds ahead of third-place car number 51. In the opening race of the season, Ferrari dominated the podium, beating out many strong rivals.
First podium sweep since Austria in 1972
This was the first time in 53 years that Ferrari had monopolized the podium in an endurance race, since the 1972 Österreichring 1000km, when they competed with the 312PB.
This was the first time in 53 years, since the 1972 Österreichring 1000km, that Ferrari has achieved a sweep of the podium in endurance races. Leading the Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ Championships, the team is off to a great start in their quest for the title. Fuoco, driving the No. 50 car, who brought home Ferrari’s fourth WEC victory, expressed his joy:
“First of all, the hard work the whole team has put in throughout the off-season has allowed us to demonstrate our great potential in Qatar. That’s why our tyre management and strategy worked perfectly in the final race. This result, with three Ferraris dominating the top spot in the WEC, will go down in history.”
Teammate Nielsen also praised the tyre management and team strategy.
“Moving up to second place early on allowed me to drive with confidence even in tricky situations. Perfect tire management and team strategy allowed us to maximize the potential of the 499P. It was a tough race, but we’ve regained the top step of the podium, following on from the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans.”
Guidi, who started from pole position but finished third, congratulated his teammate but also showed signs of disappointment.
“We took home the maximum points as a team on our way to winning the Manufacturers’ Championship. It was not a clean race for us and it was hard to imagine a podium during the race. We are disappointed, but we should be happy with third place on the podium and a much better start to the season than we had in 2024. The most important thing is that Ferrari won and we swept the top three.”
