Lone Star Le Mans

The rain influenced the race from the start – with the cars behind the Safety Car – and in particular during the first five hours, causing numerous interruptions from race direction. Ferrari was always among the frontrunners: Calado with the 499P number 51 took the lead in the second hour – a position also held for a long time by Giovinazzi and Pier Guidi –, ahead of Hanson in the number 83 car, while Nielsen with the number 50 remained in the top five.

The episode that slowed the 499P number 51 came less than two hours from the end, when Pier Guidi suffered a contact that caused the front-left tyre to puncture, forcing the team into a pit stop. The Italian driver returned to the track in 13th, beginning a fantastic comeback that brought him back into the leading positions, although no longer able to fight for the podium. A strong race also for crew number 50, with Nielsen, Fuoco and Molina on the podium, at the end of an event that recorded a total of 66,217 spectators in the stands.

In its second season in the top class of endurance racing, the team sealed a historic success thanks to the results obtained in the category – which saw AF Corse competing this year with one other rival. Ye-Kubica-Hanson leave Texas with a title that makes the 2025 season even more memorable, also considering the historic triumph at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, last June.

A winning partnership between Ferrari and AF Corse which, in the FIA WEC – from 2012 to today – saw the team founded by Amato Ferrari achieve an overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (in 2025, with the car entered directly in the World Championship, number 83) and two successes as racing partner of the official Ferrari – AF Corse team (2023 and 2024). At Le Mans the list of triumphs also includes five class wins, four in LMGTE Pro in 2012 (458 Italia, Fisichella-Bruni-Vilander), 2014 (458 Italia, Bruni-Fisichella-Vilander), 2019 (488 GTE, Calado-Pier Guidi-Serra), 2021 (Calado-Pier Guidi-Ledogar), and one in LMGTE Am in 2021 (488 GTE, Nielsen-Perrodo-Rovera).

To these must be added seven class titles in the FIA WEC with GT cars (LMGTE Pro: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017; LMGTE Am: 2016, 2019/20, 2021) plus the one obtained in 2025 with the Ferrari Hypercar, bringing the total to eight.

The American track, which returned to the FIA World Endurance Championship calendar in 2024, is characterised by frequent elevation changes along its 5.513-kilometre layout, comprising 20 corners – 11 left-handers and 9 right-handers. 

Many of these corners draw inspiration from famous international circuits, including the Maggotts-Becketts-Chapel sequence at Silverstone, the arena section at Hockenheim, and Turn 8 at Istanbul Park. The track’s layout intentionally features wide sections at certain points, allowing drivers to experiment with various racing lines.

A particularly iconic feature of the US circuit is Turn 1, which follows the start/finish straight and features an incline exceeding 11%. Turn 1 is a wide and fast left-hand corner designed to mimic the famous “S do Senna” at Interlagos and requires precision and skill to hit the apex at the top of the climb before starting to descend. Also particularly challenging are the blind Turn 10 and the heavy braking into Turn 12, which leads into the final sector.