Click for more.
Ferrari officially marked the start of its third season in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s top class by unveiling today the 2025 livery of the 499Ps which will compete under the official Ferrari – AF Corse team banner.*
“True to the philosophy of the Prancing Horse, the 2025 499P looks ahead, supported by the creativity of Ferrari’s designers. The livery has been modernized with a new composition, blending red – a darker shade that reinterprets the colors seen on Ferrari race cars from past decades, with Giallo Modena, accentuating the car’s body lines,” Ferrari said.
Set to make its race debut in Qatar on 28 February, “the 499P thus pays homage to Ferrari’s recent history while still celebrating its predecessor, the 312 PB.” This was Maranello’s last Sport Prototype, which competed until 1973 before a 50-year hiatus that ended in 2023 with Ferrari’s return to the top class of endurance racing.
The driving crews remain unchanged in 2025, a season in which Ferrari aims to contest the Manufacturers’ and Drivers’ World Championship titles while defending its Le Mans crown. Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, and Nicklas Nielsen will share the number 50 car, while Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, and Antonio Giovinazzi will take the wheel of the number 51. The 499P, entrusted to the six drivers, will maintain the same technical configuration as the car that competed in the latter half of last season. The championship kicks off on Friday, 28 February, in Qatar.
The Car
At the opening round of the World Championship in Qatar, Ferrari will take to the track with the 499P in the technical configuration introduced in the fifth round of the 2024 season at São Paulo, Brazil. This marked the debut of the first technical evolution package (dubbed joker), which featured updates such as a redesigned brake cooling duct system and, aerodynamically, the addition of flicks beneath the front headlights.
“Building on this configuration, the team worked throughout the winter to optimise the overall technical package, both in the permitted test sessions on the track and in the simulator. The winter development program extended beyond the car itself – where meticulous refinements within regulatory limits enhanced reliability, incorporated regulatory updates, and fine-tuned every area where performance trailed the competition – but also focused on improving all race-related team operations,” Ferrari said.
The 499P has a hybrid powertrain that combines an internal combustion engine – a mid-rear-mounted twin-turbo V6 – with an electric unit, the ERS (Energy Recovery System), on the front axle.
The internal combustion engine is derived from Ferrari’s family of twin-turbo V6 engines, also found in its road-going models. Current FIA WEC and Formula 1 regulations envisage the use of turbocharged V6 engines paired with an 800V hybrid system. This philosophy is exemplified by the Ferrari F80, the Maranello-based brand’s latest supercar, which shares the same six-cylinder engine architecture and several components derived from the 499P.
*AutoInformed on
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
World Endurance Championship – New Ferrari 499P
Click for more.
Ferrari officially marked the start of its third season in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s top class by unveiling today the 2025 livery of the 499Ps which will compete under the official Ferrari – AF Corse team banner.*
“True to the philosophy of the Prancing Horse, the 2025 499P looks ahead, supported by the creativity of Ferrari’s designers. The livery has been modernized with a new composition, blending red – a darker shade that reinterprets the colors seen on Ferrari race cars from past decades, with Giallo Modena, accentuating the car’s body lines,” Ferrari said.
Set to make its race debut in Qatar on 28 February, “the 499P thus pays homage to Ferrari’s recent history while still celebrating its predecessor, the 312 PB.” This was Maranello’s last Sport Prototype, which competed until 1973 before a 50-year hiatus that ended in 2023 with Ferrari’s return to the top class of endurance racing.
The driving crews remain unchanged in 2025, a season in which Ferrari aims to contest the Manufacturers’ and Drivers’ World Championship titles while defending its Le Mans crown. Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, and Nicklas Nielsen will share the number 50 car, while Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, and Antonio Giovinazzi will take the wheel of the number 51. The 499P, entrusted to the six drivers, will maintain the same technical configuration as the car that competed in the latter half of last season. The championship kicks off on Friday, 28 February, in Qatar.
The Car
At the opening round of the World Championship in Qatar, Ferrari will take to the track with the 499P in the technical configuration introduced in the fifth round of the 2024 season at São Paulo, Brazil. This marked the debut of the first technical evolution package (dubbed joker), which featured updates such as a redesigned brake cooling duct system and, aerodynamically, the addition of flicks beneath the front headlights.
“Building on this configuration, the team worked throughout the winter to optimise the overall technical package, both in the permitted test sessions on the track and in the simulator. The winter development program extended beyond the car itself – where meticulous refinements within regulatory limits enhanced reliability, incorporated regulatory updates, and fine-tuned every area where performance trailed the competition – but also focused on improving all race-related team operations,” Ferrari said.
The 499P has a hybrid powertrain that combines an internal combustion engine – a mid-rear-mounted twin-turbo V6 – with an electric unit, the ERS (Energy Recovery System), on the front axle.
The internal combustion engine is derived from Ferrari’s family of twin-turbo V6 engines, also found in its road-going models. Current FIA WEC and Formula 1 regulations envisage the use of turbocharged V6 engines paired with an 800V hybrid system. This philosophy is exemplified by the Ferrari F80, the Maranello-based brand’s latest supercar, which shares the same six-cylinder engine architecture and several components derived from the 499P.
*AutoInformed on
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.