Ferrari has ruled out an expansion of its 499P Le Mans Hypercar programme into the IMSA SportsCar Championship for next year.
The Italian manufacturer has outlined a 2025 plan that does not involve the North American series for which the 499P is eligible in the GTP class and instead calls for a continued focus on the World Endurance Championship, again with a three-car assault in Hypercar.
Ferrari head of sportscar racing boss Antonello Coletta told Motorsport.com that the brand “prefers to consolidate [its] programme” rather than expanding onto a second front in what will be the third season of competition for its two-time Le Mans 24 Hours-winning LMH.
“Next year we will be involved only in WEC and not IMSA — now we concentrate on the WEC with three cars,” he said.
That will mean two factory 499Ps run by AF Corse in the Hypercar class and the new-for-2024 customer or satellite entry, also run by AF, that competes in the FIA Endurance Trophy for hypercar teams rather than manufacturers’ points.
The assault with the yellow-liveried Ferrari, this year raced by Robert Kubica and factory drivers Yifei Ye and Robert Shwartzman, will continue “unless there are any surprises”, Coletta said.
#83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Robert Kubica, Robert Shwartzman, Yifei Ye
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
Coletta has talked openly about a desire for the 499P to one day race in the USA, a key road car market for Ferrari.
Longtime US sportscar entrant Giuseppe Risi, whose eponymous team is currently racing a Ferrari 296 GT3 in the IMSA enduros in GTD Pro, has made no secret of a desire to return to the prototype ranks with the marque he has represented for more than a quarter of a century.
“At the moment we don’t have a plan to go to America, but it is not impossible for the future,” continued Coletta. “We need to take time for each development of our activity.”
Ferrari was most recently involved in the top class of North American sportscar racing with the 333SP customer car built to IMSA’s World Sports Car regulations.
It competed from 1994 through until 2003, taking one victory in the Daytona 24 Hours and three at the Sebring 12 Hours.