Head of Ferrari Attività Sportive GT, Antonello Coletta was front and centre as the media were given a behind closed doors sneak peek on Saturday of the new Ferrari 499P HyperCar, revealed officially this evening at the Ferrari Finali Mondiali Gala Dinner at Imola.
After the assembled media were given a chance see the car for the first time it was open house Q&A for the Ferrari motorsport boss, with plenty of detail given, though not yet the identities of the driver line-ups for the two-car FIA WEC squad.
Why is Ferrari back now in top class prototypes after so long? 50 years?
“Because the change in the rules is a good opportunity. We have won a lot in GT and there is a change on the rules there too.
“All these elements contributed to the final decision to come back in the prototype after the iconic 50 years after, and for the 100th year for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.”
How important is the styling element?
“The styling is very important. First of all, we would like that when people see our car they recognise it as a Ferrari. I think that we have attained a good result.”
The budget cap has come in Formula One. Has that played any role in the decision?
“No, we took the decision before the budget cap in F1. This is a strategic decision. It did not follow the budget cap.”
In terms of the development of the car, you’re using all the resources within the Ferrari group. So you’re using F1 resource?
“Ferrari is a big factory. And of course, we would like to keep all the tools that we can use. And I think that the result of all of the factory because there are times where some contributions are made by all the areas, including the sporting and industry areas.”
Has that extended into some technical areas, for example, the ERS system?
“Yes, we pooled all of our knowledge around the table as we developed the plans for this car.
“We put together the staff, the technical knowledge, and I think the result you can see here is very good.
“Of course, we have less time than some other competitors, because we started in July and the time for the testing is not a lot. But we have gone ahead very, very fast
“We hope to be ready for Sebring, because Sebring is a special circuit, it’s not easy!”
Is there one area that Formula one can have an input into the hybrid system?
“We took the battery of the F1, the technology of the battery, and the rest is totally new.
Testing so far has been around 12000 kilometres?
“More or less, in all the tests that we have done until today. And we have in front of us other test days of course.
“This is a very hard moment for us because we test the car, we solve any problems, we come back on the track, but we are confident that our technicians have made a very, very amazing car.”
So is this the test car?
“This is the first car so we will go back testing as soon as possible.
“We now have two test cars, and at the last test we ran both for the first time (at Monza).
“This is very important to make our development very, very fast.
Is this a multi-year factory programme?
“Yes!”
Given that it’s been half a century and many of your competitors have been competing at the top end of endurance racing for some time, how much pressure is there on Ferrari to really deliver next year?
“Of course, the pressure is important, and it is a lot, but that’s always the case when Ferrari come to top a new category but again, I believe we have created a very good car. We are delayed with respect to the other manufacturers. But first of all, we need to be consistent. The reliability, I think will be the most important result that we need to have and after that, of course, the speed on the track.
“But I think that we can compete with the other manufacturers with success – I hope! We put all our best into this car.”
Why did you choose LMH?
“We chose the LMH because, for Ferrari, it is important to make all the car in all these parts.
“Ferrari is a constructor and manufacturers of these cars. It is not a part of our philosophy to buy a part of the car to create the (powertrain).
We decided to come back in the prototype when the rules gave us a chance to make the whole of the car.
“This is a manifesto of the technologies of Ferrari. And for this, we need to create 100% of the parts of the car.”
What was the longest run for the car in testing? Have you made any endurance test?
“For now I prefer no answer to how many hours we will make in our test. I can say that we are happy with our results. And I hope to continue in this direction. Because I think that the way is the correct way.”
Can you tell us if will you test at Sebring before the season?
“Many competitors test at Sebring and I hope to have a chance to organise one test but at the moment, we are not sure. The situation is very hard because the time is very little. We will see.”
How well has testing gone?
“I think, for the moment it is good, because we started in July 2022, not like the others that started one year ago!
“We are where we dreamed to be!”
How much can still change on the car?
“We have the homologation of the car at the end of the year so probably we can change some parts but probably not a lot.
“Honestly, we are in more or less the final configuration of the car but it is normal before the last day of the homologation that we will make all changes that are possible to make from testing.”
Seeing the depth of the competition that’s coming in 2023. And with more to come in 2024. what can you say on the competitive side and the emotional side as well? It’s a tough nut to crack, isn’t it?
“Yes. We have many competitors in 2023 and more in 2024. I think that 2023 will be a complicated season because as we can see already, our competitors have had some reliability problems.
“So I think that next season will be a difficult season, probably not for all competitors, because we know that those that have had a chance to do a lot of running may not have many problems as the others.
“But in any case, 2024 will be an amazing season. But in any case, we work for the 2023 season and we will see.”
We know you have not announced the drivers, but do you know your driver lineup and will they all be from within the GT family or will you have some surprises?
“I have been asked this question many times and I understand the curiosity!
“I repeat that the choice of drivers will be in the Ferrari family. We have very consistent drivers in the GT family, but we have many other drivers in the Ferrari family, and 100% of the choices will be in-house.
“I think that at the end of the year or the first day of the next year, the decision will be taken.”
On the engine, is it related to the 296 engine? Or is it a clean sheet design?
“The design is like the 296. The base is the six-cylinder. Of course, the engine is developed in each part, because it’s completely different from the engine of the street car, but in any case, this is the base of our philosophy for the selection of the six-cylinder. The road car has been the base for this engine.”
So the starting point is the 296?
“Yes, of course. But, this is most important for us, we come back in the prototype, we come back in the maximum category but we never forgot that the race for us is as the laboratory for the street car. This link is very important for us.”
What was the motivation to go with the V6 engine rather an a V12 that was associated with endurance racing cars?
“Because when we make a car we need to understand all the possibilities and then make a choice for what is best for the car.
“The six-cylinder option is the best for this car.
“A 12 cylinder would be bigger than the 6, the weight is different too. We have 500 kilowatts that we can deploy and probably the mix from a six-cylinder engine and the electric power for us is the best.
“If you look at the other competitors you can see that their choice is more or less the same. I think that this is not coincidental!
“Another important issue to remember is that for Ferrari, more or less all of the road cars, and the F1 car engines are six-cylinder. This is, at this moment, our strategic choice. ”
Regarding the potential future of customer cars, how many inquiries Have you received so far?
“We received many, a consistent (considerable?) number of requests from important teams.
“But we prefer to concentrate now on our official (factory) cars.
“And we will see for the future, but at the moment we are not ready to serve customer racing teams.”
What about North America?
“At this moment, we are concentrated on a World Championship. In the future, we will say we have time to think.
The current GTE Pro team is very much AF Corse, are you saying that this team is much more of a combination between the factory and AF Corse?
“Yes, the combination is consistent. Now the number of our technicians is more than in GT, of course, because the car is completely different. But the partnership is very consistent, AF Corse has been part of our family for more or less 20 years now.”
Ferrari was involved in the rulemaking discussions for the LMH rules going all the way back to 2018. Was it very much your vision that you saw the 50th anniversary, saw the 100th anniversary? Was it very much your vision to say “yes, we should be there.” And was that what you were telling your big bosses?
“First of all, I would like to remind you that Ferrari was at the table from the first day when FIA and ACO and IMSA decided to create new rules.
When we had some discussions in all the last years, our vision was open. And when we understood that the occasion was great, we took the final decision and all those numbers came together in a magic moment.”
In Formula One you make the fastest car you possibly can in sports car racing there’s a balance of performance. So are other areas like tyre degradation and fuel consumption? Do they become more important for this car?
“I think that in endurance, all the strategy is very, very important. Because in F1, we can see one, or two pit stops. In endurance, we can have 20, or 25 pit stops! Whilst endurance is not new for us, the prototype is a very different challenge and probably the first race will be very hard for us.
“But our strategic staff and our engineers are very competent and consistent and I believe they can make a difference just as they have in the past in GT when we have won races despite not having the maximum power with respect to the others.”
