24 Hours of Le Mans 2024 – Manufacturer’s outlook: Ferrari
The first free practice sessions of the 92nd edition will begin this Wednesday: the opportunity to assess, before the serious things start, what the approximately fourteen manufacturers engaged in Hypercar and LMGT3 can hope for. Ferrari is involved in both classes, with a title to defend in the general classification.
It was the headline event of the 100th anniversary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a year ago: the return of Ferrari to the top category, 50 years after its last appearance. And with this, the victory after a legendary duel between the No. 51 prancing horse and the No. 8 Japanese car.
This year, Maranello has stood out, but not necessarily in the right way: a pace far from the mark at Losail, a completely failed strategy at Imola, and a red flag that ruined everything at Spa. In the last two cases, victory was within reach.
The 499P cars are successful, that’s a fact. But in the Italian team, the rivalry between the two official cars could spark at Le Mans, if the Italian Hypercars were to be in the mix.
Car number 50, 5th in the championship and the first of the three Ferraris, has an extremely fast driver: Antonio Fuoco, who secured the last two pole positions of the season.
Unlike all other manufacturers, except Porsche, the Reds have an additional asset: the presence of a third car, to support the two official ones. The No. 83 (with Robert Kubica, Robert Schwartzman, and Yifei Ye), which unofficially is a third official car*, will also have its say in the hierarchy. And Le Mans should not be an exception to what has been seen this year.
The prospect of a victory seems compromised by Porsche’s more than promising pace. This is even more true for the Vista AF Corse entries in LMGT3.
Numbers 54 and 55 debut the brand new 296 GT3, which made a very strong impression at Daytona earlier this year. They are currently in 7th and 8th place in the championship and have had a relatively discreet start to the season so far.
The best result of the Ferrari GT3 this year was 4th place obtained at Imola by car number 55, which notably includes French driver François Herriau. The Maranello firm will be able to count on two other cars (car number 86 from GR Racing and car number 155 from Spirit of Race) in this 2024 edition. The bets are still open, as Le Mans chooses its winners.
In WEC, manufacturers can field more than two cars. But in this specific case, it is only possible to register two cars for points in the world constructors’ standings. In the event of a third car or more, it is entered in the team’s world cup.
