Ferrari will head into the 2026 World Endurance Championship with small updates to its title-winning 499P Le Mans Hypercar.
Though the Italian producer has opted in opposition to utilizing any extra evo jokers from the 5 obtainable to it through the preliminary five-year lifecycle of the automotive, it’s making minor revisions to the aerodynamics of its LMH prototype because it bids for a fourth consecutive win on the Le Mans 24 Hours.
The choice to replace the aero of the 499P follows the WEC’s change from Sauber to the Windshear wind tunnel in North Carolina, requiring all producers to re-homologate their vehicles within the US. A extra substantial improve to the automotive will comply with in 2027, when the 499P enters its fifth season in competitors.
“We tried to make the most of this chance [of a new wind tunnel] to tweak a number of issues, however we most popular to take action with out making any main modifications, so with out enjoying any jokers, despite the fact that they have been obtainable below the rules,” Ferrari’s head of endurance Ferdinando Cannizzo stated at an occasion in Maranello.
“We wished to provide continuity to the work we’re doing and provide you with rather more important modifications within the following season [2027], by which we are going to make built-in modifications, i.e. we are going to attempt to see one thing that’s designed from a 360-degree perspective and never simply to optimise a single space, on this case solely aerodynamics.”
The aero tweaks Ferrari has deliberate for 2026 will assist it stave off rising competitors in Hypercar, when Genesis enters the championship with the GMR-001 and several other incumbents, together with Cadillac, BMW, Alpine and Toyota, introduce considerably overhauled vehicles.
The aero changes will coincide with the introduction of Michelin’s new slick tyre constituted of 50% sustainable supplies.
Concentrate on reliability
#51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi
Picture by: Marc Fleury
Ferrari pressured {that a} key objective for 2026 is to enhance the reliability of the 499P after a sophisticated Le Mans look by which each its factory-entered vehicles have been hit by technical points.
“If there’s a weak level, it’s that one side we should not quit on – reliability. I believe it is among the vital areas for enchancment to give attention to, additionally as a result of the sooner we go, the extra we are able to exploit the automotive and the extra reliability points come to the fore, as a result of we’re placing increasingly stress on the methods,” Cannizzo stated.
“Once we encounter reliability points, we all know that we’re actually on the restrict, so we’ve to suppose forward and construct in very excessive security margins each time we design the automotive. So I believe that is the realm for enchancment – I would not name it a weak spot, however it’s positively an vital space for enchancment.”
Cannizzo pointed to Toyota’s spectacular restoration in 2025 as proof that Ferrari wants to lift its sport on the reliability entrance subsequent season.
“This season has demonstrated one elementary factor: Toyota, which began with some difficulties however completed all of the races, then completed second within the championship, just by scoring a one-two within the final race [Bahrain],” he stated.
“They suffered so much, however they nonetheless completed in second place, and that is the results of the consistency of the outcomes they managed to attain, so we’ve to do the identical factor.
“We need to speak about extra complete enhancements, trying additionally on the crew, consideration to element and the way we carry out in races is among the facets that all the time must be taken care of, as a result of this yr we misplaced a number of seconds resulting from errors or penalties, and that is one thing that, given the always growing stage of general competitiveness, we can not afford.”
#50 Ferrari Af Corse Ferrari 499P: Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen, #51 Ferrari Af Corse Ferrari 499P: Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi
Picture by: Jakob Ebrey / LAT Pictures by way of Getty Pictures
Improvement within the Hypercar class is closely restricted, with groups solely allowed a restricted variety of upgrades to their vehicles. Additional, every producer is required to hunt permission from the rulemakers the FIA and the Car Membership de l’Ouest to make use of an evo joker on their automotive.
Since its Hypercar debut, the one time Ferrari deployed an evo joker was after Le Mans 2024, when it up to date the brake methods on the 499P. However whereas Ferrari has largely shunned making main modifications to its prototype, Cannizzo revealed that it has always been refining the automotive in a number of areas for general enchancment.
“The automotive nonetheless has many hidden areas that must be explored with a whole lot of persistence,” he defined. “After I say hidden areas, I am referring to the wide selection of changes we’ve within the automotive, as a result of typically we do not realise what we are able to do, just by altering the shock absorbers fairly than the suspension from tender to exhausting, combining shock absorbers with much less or extra damping, with floor clearance, with aerodynamic traits, with tyre temperature or with the selection of the fitting compound.
“There are such a lot of variables that understanding how one can mix them in the fitting means for every circuit shouldn’t be simple. That is the work that has stored us busy over time, with a totally new automotive that we too have realized to know in all its secrets and techniques, race after race.
“It’s clear that it’s troublesome to attain important enhancements on a automotive the place little will be modified, however we’ve seen that with this method we’ve managed to vastly enhance the efficiency of this automotive this season with out altering something when it comes to parts, however in actuality, we’ve modified so much in how we’ve offered the automotive in every race.”
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