A positive Thursday for 499Ps at Spa

Three weeks after the Italian round at Imola, the Ferrari 499Ps are back in action for round three of the FIA WEC season, the 6 Hours of Spa, held this weekend in Belgium.

Today, the Maranello manufacturer’s Hypercars took part in two free practice sessions. In the morning, the official Ferrari – AF Corse team Hypercars, with crews number 50 and 51, posted the first and second fastest times. In the afternoon, the cars finished second and tenth respectively, with Fuoco-Molina-Nielsen and Pier Guidi-Calado-Giovinazzi at the helm.

The first day on the track concluded with the 499P number 83 of AF Corse in fifth and eighth positions.

Free Practice 1. The Belgian weekend kicked off at 11.30 a.m. with the first practice session, which took place in favourable weather. The track was dry, with an air temperature of 17.9° and tarmac at 22.2°C.

Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, and Nicklas Nielsen shared driving duties in the 499P number 50, completing 34 laps. The Italian turned in the benchmark time of 2’05’’690, the best of the session. The number 51 “sister” car completed 38 laps with Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, and Antonio Giovinazzi at the wheel. Giovinazzi clocked 2’06’’831, the second fastest time of the session.

The yellow-livered 499P from AF Corse finished fifth, driven by official Prancing Horse drivers Yifei Ye and Robert Shwartzman, alongside Robert Kubica. Ye set a best lap time of 2’07”087.

Free Practice 2. In the afternoon, as the sun kept shining over Spa and the mercury climbed to an air temperature of around 19° and asphalt of 26°C, the team continued fine-tuning the car ahead of Saturday’s race.

All the drivers took turns at the wheel during the second 90-minute session. At the chequered flag, the fastest 499P, car number 50 driven by Fuoco, recorded a time of 2’04’’283, securing second place just 0.121 seconds behind Porsche number 6. The number 51 Hypercar finished tenth, with Calado clocking a time of 2’06’’070.

The 499P number 83 ended the session in eighth position, with Kubica registering the best lap time of 2’05’’706.

The programme. On Friday, 10 May, Free Practice 3 will take place from 11 a.m. to 12 noon, followed by Qualifying starting at 3:30 p.m., and the Hyperpole—open to the ten fastest cars—at 3:53 p.m. The green flag for the race will be waved on Saturday, 11 May, at 1 p.m. (local time).