Ferrari Eyeing Performance Upgrade for Le Mans-Winning 499P
Ferrari is considering a performance upgrade for its Le Mans 24 Hours-winning 499P, which could come before the end of the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season, according to Ferdinando Cannizzo, the technical director of Ferrari’s sportscar operations.
Cannizzo revealed that the Italian manufacturer is looking to exploit the evo joker rules, which govern car development in the Hypercar class. However, he stated that no timeline has been set for the potential revision to the Ferrari Le Mans Hypercar, and it might not come until the start of the 2024 season.
“We are thinking about introducing a joker this year or next year,” Cannizzo said between the Le Mans Test Day and the start of the race week. “We haven’t made any decision yet, but we are further developing this joker because we’ve identified areas for improvement.”
After the race, Cannizzo acknowledged that Toyota, with which Ferrari battled for the victory, was the faster car in wet and mixed conditions, but the Ferrari “was more competitive in the dry.” He said, “We know the areas we would like to improve. We need to be much more competitive in all conditions — this race is a perfect lesson for us.”
Ferrari has yet to use one of the five evo jokers performance upgrades allowed to a manufacturer over the lifespan of an LMH or LMDh prototype. The team stated at the end of last year that it was evaluating introducing one for 2024, but confirmed ahead of the season-opener in Qatar in March that it had opted against bringing one on stream for the current season.
Cannizzo stated pre-Qatar that it was important for Ferrari to first “exploit the potential of the base car” before applying for any jokers. A manufacturer must apply to the WEC rule makers, the FIA and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, to be able to take one of the evo jokers available to it.
The take-up of evo jokers is not in the public domain and is not shared by the FIA and the ACO with the manufacturers. It is not known how many were used by Toyota for its revisions to the GR010 HYBRID LMH or by Peugeot for its reworking of the 9X8 LMH.
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