September 1st, 2024 will certainly go down in Ferrari’s racing historical past as a very memorable day, however maybe not for the explanation you might count on.
Successful each the Italian Components 1 Grand Prix and the FIA WEC’s Lone Star Le Mans race at COTA in the identical 24-hour stretch was a exceptional achievement even for a producer that has numerous vital accolades to look again on, and a number of rooms in Maranello with trophies stacked to the ceiling.
The No. 83 Ferrari 499P’s victory at COTA on Sunday night time after Charles Leclerc dazzled the tifosi in Monza earlier within the day produced a laundry listing of spectacular statistics, together with the truth that it now has an general win in two separate FIA world championships on the identical day for the primary time in its historical past.
Ferrari additionally has three WEC Hypercar wins to its title now, with three completely different automobiles and driver crews after the No. 51 gained the Centenary Le Mans 24 Hours and the No. 50 gained the 2024 operating of the occasion again in June.
As for the drivers, Robert Kubica, Ye Yifei and Robert Shwartzman scored their first WEC victories and have become the second crew driving a privately-funded Hypercar to win a race this season, after HERTZ Crew JOTA’s dramatic triumph in Spa again in Could.
However past the important thing stats, it is a consequence which may be regarded again on as a major second for Ferrari’s manufacturing unit driver roster.
AF Corse and Ferrari pushed to subject a 3rd 499P within the WEC this 12 months as a result of it wished to have a platform on the prime finish of sportscar racing to trial younger drivers that it believes have a brilliant future forward of them.
Step ahead the No. 83’s pair of 24-year-olds: Yifei – who was poached from JOTA over the low season – and Ferrari Academy graduate Shwartzman, are enhancing with every passing race weekend with the assistance of mentorship from Robert Kubica
Previous to yesterday’s race, the No. 83 had its moments and famously led the Le Mans 24 Hours for a number of hours earlier than receiving a expensive penalty for wiping out the No. 15 BMW through the night time and retiring late within the race with a hybrid system subject.
Lone Star Le Mans due to this fact felt, as Yifei put it, like “redemption” for June. It definitely regarded like a real turning level for this effort, too. It was a whole efficiency from qualifying via to the tip of the race. All three drivers had been speedy, stayed mistake-free, and within the case of Yifei and Shwartzman, soaked up main strain throughout their stints.
Yifei spent the center portion of the race main whereas managing a set of arduous Michelin tires over two stints, and endured a prolonged sequence with Toyota’s Nyck de Vries on his bumper on brisker medium rubber. The Dutchman couldn’t discover a manner via, cooked his tires and was pressured to pit early for an undercut.
Toyota’s try to get by through its pit technique labored, however the pendulum swung again within the remaining hour. A drive-through for a yellow flag infringement by Kamui Kobayashi dropped the No. 7 behind Shwartzman, making a chase to the end.
Kobayashi, who was a mix of annoyed and motivated to make up for misplaced time, reeled within the Israeli-flagged driver however couldn’t get shut sufficient to make a lunge. Shwartzman’s consistency and skill to handle tire put on had been undeniably spectacular with the win on the road.
“This can be a massive second. They made a mistake, it value them the win and we used that to our benefit to get the win we had been pushing for in Le Mans,” Shwartzman instructed RACER.
“The final laps had been tremendous difficult with Kamui coming, he was flying and I used to be sliding all around the locations as a result of my tires had been gone. However I’m glad I managed to drag it out.”
Yifei and Shwartzman have now confirmed their price in essentially the most aggressive top-class subject in WEC historical past on a day during which the manufacturing unit automobiles fell away after operating as a part of a Ferrari 1-2-3 formation within the race’s opening laps.
The pole-sitting No. 51 retired earlier than the midway mark with a drivetrain subject attributable to a broken wheel rim and the No. 50 crew, who struggled for outright tempo, in the end ran a extra conservative technique to make sure they completed forward of the championship-leading No. 6 Porsche to shut the hole forward of Fuji. This left the No. 83 to struggle for Ferrari’s second win of the season, which it did admirably.
That brings us to the final word query: what does the long run now maintain for Yifei and Shwartzman? Additional motion within the Hypercar and GTP driver market is anticipated within the coming weeks and months forward of the 2025 season and past, and these two are actually red-hot property.
All indicators level to the No. 83 returning subsequent season with the identical line-up, and this may appear to be a sensible selection as a part of their ongoing improvement. However they’ll certainly be trying to transfer as much as the highest desk in some unspecified time in the future within the not-too-distant future and proper now there’s no room on the inn. Each of the present Ferrari AF Corse manufacturing unit trios look robust and secure.
Will they in the end stick it out with Ferrari in the long run, or will they swap if different factories come knocking? Will probably be fascinating to search out out…
