![Ferrari 499P #51 takes pole position at the 6 Hours of Imola, Round 2 of the WEC [Video]](https://wheelfeed.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/1941-1761191595750.jpg)
Ferrari 499P
The 499P team maintained their strong performance from the opening round
The Ferrari 499P, which dominated the podium at the opening race in Qatar, continued its strong form at Imola, with car number 51 setting the fastest time in qualifying.
Approximately one and a half months after the opening race, the Qatar 1,812km race, where the Ferrari 499P dominated the podium, the second race, the Imola 6 Hours, was held at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Italy.
On April 19th, the third free practice session began at 10:40, followed by a 12-minute qualifying session at 3:10 PM. Ferrari AF Corse’s No. 51 Ferrari 499P recorded the top time of 1 minute 29.623 seconds, advancing to the hyperpole to determine the top 10 grid positions. AF Corse’s No. 83 499P (Robert Kubica, Ye Yifei, Philip Hansson) followed in second place with a time of 1 minute 29.993 seconds. Meanwhile, Ferrari AF Corse’s No. 50 (Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Niklas Nielsen), winner of the opening race, only managed a time of 1 minute 46.400 seconds, finishing in 18th place in qualifying.
The 10-minute hyperpole session began at 3:30pm, with car number 51 beating its qualifying time by clocking a time of 1 minute 28.920 seconds to take pole position. Car number 83 followed with a time of 1 minute 29.678 seconds, giving Ferrari a monopoly on the front row. Qualifying third was the BMW M Team WRT’s BMW M Hybrid V8 car number 15 (Dries Vanthoor, Rafael Marciello, Kevin Magnussen).
Car No. 51 won with perfect race management
The Ferrari 499P No. 51, which started from pole position, achieved its first victory of the season without any major problems or accidents.
The six-hour final race began at 1:00 PM local time on the 20th. Calado was the starting driver for the pole-sitter car No. 51, and maintained a position of second or higher throughout the race. Giovinazzi took the second stint, before handing the baton in perfect time to Guidi, who would take over for the final two hours.
Guidi completed 212 laps and took his long-awaited first victory of the season, beating the second-placed BMW M TEAM WRT No. 20 (Rene Rast, Robin Frijns, Sheldon van der Linde) by 8.490 seconds. Third place went to the Alpine Endurance Team No. 36 (Jules Gounon, Frédéric Makowiecki, Mick Schumacher).
Giovinazzi, driver of the No. 51 499P car, who took his first win of the season in his hometown of Imola, expressed his joy as follows:
“We finally won in Imola! It’s an especially great feeling to win at our home race. It was a perfect weekend, from free practice to qualifying and hyperpole, and finally winning the race. It was a long race, but we understood the potential of the car well and made no mistakes in terms of strategy or tire management. I’d like to thank my teammates as well.”
After struggling in qualifying and starting from 18th on the grid, the #50 car faced a tricky race. Starting driver Nielsen and his successor, Molina, made an incredible comeback, climbing up to fourth place at one point, but towards the end of the race, Fuoco made contact with the #8 Toyota GR010 HYBRID, causing a puncture in the left rear tire. This unscheduled pit stop, combined with a 45-second penalty, meant the car ultimately finished in 15th place.
AF Corse’s #83 car, led by Kubica, was fighting for the podium for most of the race, ultimately finishing in fourth place, 20.597 seconds behind the leader.
