Lusail, 28 February 2025 – The opening round of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship is set to go down in motorsport history and in the memories of fans, thanks to a Ferrari triple on the Lusail circuit, home to the 1812 KM of Qatar. The victory was secured by Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, and Nicklas Nielsen in the number 50 499P, crossing the line ahead of the number 83 car of AF Corse, driven by Yifei Ye, Robert Kubica, and Phil Hanson. Third place went to the other official Ferrari – AF Corse crew of Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, and Antonio Giovinazzi.
The Maranello manufacturer delivered the perfect race weekend, not only achieving an extraordinary result in the race but also setting the fastest lap over the course of the 10-hour competition – recorded by Pier Guidi – and securing pole position thanks to Giovinazzi. For Prancing Horse, this marked the best possible start to the third season featuring the Ferrari 499P in the top class of endurance racing.
The race. The 499P was the undisputed protagonist of the race. At the start, the number 51 car held the lead, while its sister car, the number 50, which had started third, immediately moved up to second place, setting the stage for a race that saw Ferrari dominate at the front of the field for its entire duration, with both cars consistently in command.The 499P’s potential, combined with the drivers’ performances, perfect tyre management, and flawless team strategy, allowed Ferrari to deliver a textbook race.
Despite two drive-through penalties in the mid-section of the 1812 KM, which set back the Pier Guidi-Calado-Giovinazzi crew, they staged a perfect comeback, securing the best possible result at Lusail. As previously noted, Pier Guidi also set the fastest lap of the race with a 1’41’’259 on lap 141.
Under the floodlights of Lusail, Fuoco brought the number 50 499P across the finish line, completing 318 laps, ahead of Kubica and Pier Guidi.
The numbers. Ferrari’s overall victory tally in the FIA WEC now stands at four. The Qatar result adds to the two unforgettable triumphs at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the official team (2023 with Pier Guidi-Calado-Giovinazzi and 2024 with Fuoco-Molina-Nielsen), and the first-place finish at COTA last year, where AF Corse secured victory with the number 83 499P driven by Ye-Shwartzman-Kubica.
Historical precedents. Ferrari concludes a race in the top class of endurance racing, with three cars in the leading positions, for the first time in 53 years. The last time on the honours list dates back to 1972, the penultimate season in which the Prancing Horse competed in the top category, before its return in 2023. That year, Ferrari locked out the front of the field in a round of the World Championship for Makes, securing the top four places.
The achievement took place at the 1000 Kilometres of Österreichring, in Austria, with four crews at the wheel of the Ferrari 312 PB. The race, held on 25 June 1972 at the Spielberg circuit, saw Jacky Ickx and Brian Redman cross the finish line first, ahead of Helmut Marko and Carlos Pace, followed by Tim Schenken and Ronnie Peterson, with Arturo Merzario and Sandro Munari narrowly missing out on the podium in fourth.
Also unforgettable was the one-two-three parade finish secured five years earlier at the 1967 24 Hours of Daytona, the opening round of the World Sportscar Championship where the Ferrari 330 P3/P4 of Lorenzo Bandini and Chris Amon were first past the chequered flag, finishing ahead of the 330 P4 of Mike Parkes and Ludovico Scarfiotti, and the 412 P of Pedro Rodriguez and Jean Guichet.
The situation. Prancing Horse leaves Lusail with 66 points in the manufacturers’ standings, thanks to the pole position, which earned one point, and the race results of the number 50 and number 51 crews, who contributed 38 and 27 points, respectively.
From this season onwards, the FIA WEC regulations allow both cars to score points towards the world championship standings, whereas until 2024, only the best-placed 499P from the Ferrari – AF Corse team could earn points.
In addition to securing second place overall, the AF Corse-entered 499P celebrated victory in the FIA World Cup for Hypercar Teams, collecting 38 points towards the independent teams’ standings.
The calendar. The FIA World Endurance Championship returns to action on 20 April with the 6 Hours of Imola.
The Maranello manufacturer bids farewell to Qatar with a one-two-three finish in the opening round of the FIA World Endurance Championship 2025. The historic result was achieved by Fuoco-Molina-Nielsen, who took victory at the wheel of the number 50 499P of the Ferrari – AF Corse team, ahead of Ye-Kubica-Hanson, second in the number 83 car of privateer team AF Corse, and the other official 499P, the number 51, third with Pier Guidi-Calado-Giovinazzi. Here are the comments gathered in Lusail at the end of the race.
Antonio Fuoco, 499P #50: “First of all, I want to thank the entire team for the work done over the winter, which allowed us to arrive here in Qatar with great potential to exploit. We performed very well in the race, both in tyre management and strategy. What we achieved today, with three Ferraris in the top positions at the end of a World Endurance Championship race, will go down in history.”
Miguel Molina, 499P #50: “The most important thing is that we started this season in the best possible way with a fantastic victory. After claiming success at Le Mans last year, we were determined to begin 2025 by showing our potential, because we have a major goal – to chase the world title for Ferrari. Scoring 38 points here in Qatar is undoubtedly ideal as we pursue this dream.”
Nicklas Nielsen, 499P #50: “As the race got underway, I immediately managed to take second place – I got off to an excellent start which gave us a confidence boost for a race that turned out to be tricky. The race was very tough, but I think we did everything in the best way possible, reclaiming the top step of the podium after our great Le Mans victory in 2024. We performed well in tyre management and in the choices made by the team, which allowed us to make the most of our 499P.”
Alessandro Pier Guidi, 499P #51: “We maximised the points we could earn as a team for the world manufacturers’ championship. It wasn’t the cleanest race for us, and halfway through, it was hard to imagine finishing on the podium. But we did it, and we should be happy with this third-place finish and the fact that we have started the season much better than in 2024. The most important thing is that Ferrari won, and seeing three cars in the top positions was truly exciting.”
James Calado, 499P #51: “It was not an easy race for us, but in the end, we managed a great comeback, bringing our 499P onto the podium on a hugely important day for Ferrari, which secured a historic one-two-three. We leave Qatar with valuable points for the world manufacturers’ championship as well as for the drivers’ standings, looking ahead to the next round at Imola with confidence.”
Antonio Giovinazzi, 499P #51: “The start of the race was tough and forced us into a huge team effort to regain positions. I want to thank my teammates for what they did today on the track. We leave Qatar happy about this historic one-two-three for Ferrari and for the points gained for the world manufacturers’ championship standings”.
Yifei Ye, 499P #83: “We had a fantastic day in Qatar, delivering a great result for the team. Starting from eighth on the grid, we were able to recover ground and play a leading role in the race, even taking the lead before finishing in second place. We should be very satisfied with this, as we have made the best possible start to the season and can look ahead to the next round at Imola with great confidence.”
Antonello Coletta, Global Head of Ferrari Endurance and Corse Clienti: “In Qatar, we achieved a fantastic one-two-three for Ferrari—this is the best reward for all the work the entire team put in over the winter months to arrive in the best possible condition for the start of the season. Over the past months, we focused on every detail related to our car and team organisation, aiming to optimise every single aspect. In this regard, the comeback of the number 51 crew, who managed to climb the podium despite some penalties, is a perfect example of how well we defined the team’s strategy and how skilled we were in tyre management.”
Ferdinando Cannizzo, Head of Endurance Race Cars: “This result repays all the effort and the hard work carried out from the second half of last season, particularly during the winter, when we focused on preparing for races at circuits where we did not perform well in 2024, such as Qatar. Today, the team did an outstanding job: we encountered no issues on any of the three cars and executed an excellent strategy to recover ground with the number 51 499P. This is just the beginning of what will be a long and complex season, and we must approach every single round with this same attitude.”
01 marzo 2025