1812 KM Qatar, 499P drivers’ comments after Prologue

The Lusail International Circuit hosted two days of testing that opened the official 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship season. By the end of the Prologue, held at the 5.380-kilometre track, which debuts in the world championship calendar with the 1812 KM Qatar race on Saturday, 2 March, the Ferrari – AF Corse team had completed 268 and 289 laps, respectively, with the 499P number 50 driven by Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, and Nicklas Nielsen, and the number 51 shared by Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, and Antonio Giovinazzi.

The test sessions on Monday, 26, and Tuesday, 27 February, allowed the team to gather data and work on the Prancing Horse Hypercar’s set-up ahead of the upcoming season’s opener. The Ferrari 499P number 83 of AF Corse, crewed by official drivers Yifei Ye and Robert Shwartzman, alongside Robert Kubica, completed 278 laps.

The Ferrari 499Ps took to the track for the second and third official test sessions, as well as participating in an additional unofficial fourth session. The fastest times came courtesy of crew number 50, which stopped the clock at 1:40.673 in the second session and number 51 with 1:42.208 in the third. These times earned them a second and eighth place in the standings at the end of the sessions. However, the 499P number 83 was the fastest in the last session with 1:40.749.

The programme. The inaugural weekend of the FIA WEC 2024 goes live on Thursday, 29 February, with the first two free practice sessions, from 12.20 a.m. to 1.50 p.m. and from 5.30 p.m. to 7 p.m. On Friday 1 March, after FP3 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Hypercar class qualifying runs from 4.20 p.m. and the Hyperpole for the ten fastest cars, from 4.58 p.m. The green flag for the 1812 KM of Qatar is on Saturday at 11 a.m. (all times are local).

Antonio Fuoco, 499P #50: “Lusail is a new track for everyone: the Prologue was essential to start gathering valuable information, but there is still much work to do during free practice. After the first test sessions, the impression is that the different competitors in the Hypercar class are very similar in performance, so the race could be extremely tight.”

Miguel Molina, 499P #50: “I couldn’t wait to get back on track to start the new season. We finish the Prologue, knowing we’ve done a lot of work in terms of fine-tuning the 499P. However, there is still a long way to go, and during free practice, we’ll have to optimise all the information gathered to be ready in the best possible condition for Saturday’s race.”

Nicklas Nielsen, 499P #50: “The rapport with the 499P was also good in terms of performance in the three test sessions. As always, the Prologue is useful for the mileage you can do and for starting the set-up work, although the lap times do not yet fully allow you to gauge the competition. The race? Tyre management could be a key factor, especially in the early laps of the race, so we’ll work on optimising this aspect.”

Alessandro Pier Guidi 499P #51: “In the two days of testing, we racked up a lot of laps and concentrated on certain aspects, particularly how we would manage the tyres during the race, which could be decisive on this track. Given the track features, it won’t be easy to overtake in the race, and we will have to be very careful in traffic. A good grid position in qualifying will be crucial.”

James Calado 499P #51: “Lusail is a new track for the FIA WEC. After the tests we conducted here over the winter, the Prologue was crucial for continuing the set-up work on our 499P. We are confident, although we know that the race won’t be easy given the high number of opponents in the top class of this year’s World Championship.”

Antonio Giovinazzi, 499P #51: “We completed many laps and gained valuable information to analyse before the race. The start of this new season after the Prologue is positive, although, as is typical with start-of-the-year tests, the various teams engage in different tasks, making it tricky to draw direct comparisons against the competition.”