Ferrari – AF Corse’s 499Ps will start from the second and fourth rows at the 1.812 KM of Qatar, the opening round of the FIA World Endurance Championship. Scheduled for Saturday, 2 March, this ten-hour event will kick off at 11 a.m. local time.
The grid positions were determined by the Hyperpole session, where Antonio Fuoco clocked the fourth fastest time in the number 50 499P, alongside teammates Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen. This put him four places ahead of Antonio Giovinazzi, who qualified the number 51 Ferrari, shared with Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado for the race.
AF Corse’s 499P number 83, crewed by the Prancing Horse’s official drivers Yifei Ye – at the wheel in qualifying – and Robert Shwartzman, alongside Robert Kubica, will start twelfth.
During the Hyperpole – the session introduced to all World Endurance Championship outings as of the 2024 season and open to the ten fastest cars in qualifying – which took place before sunset with an air temperature of 20°C and asphalt at 28.5°C, Fuoco and Giovinazzi stopped the clock at 1’39”976 (0”629 shy of the Porsche of poleman Matt Campbell) and 1’40”224 respectively. Both Italian drivers completed the Hyperpole, improving by one position on their result in the 12-minute qualifying session.
Antonio Fuoco, 499P #50
“Qualifying and Hyperpole were tricky sessions for us, but we gave it our all. At the end of the day, I’m happy because we managed to push, making the most of every minute on the track and improving our lap times. As for the race, we're starting from a strong position, but we know it will be difficult, and we’ll have to approach it with great care, also given that in the first five hours, here in Lusail, we'll face hot temperatures that will drop by several degrees in the final phase”.
Antonio Giovinazzi, 499P #51
“We gained access to the Hyperpole, which was not a given, considering that many cars lapped on very close times. We'll start from the fourth row in this first round of the 2024 season, knowing it will be a long and, I think, very close race for the top positions”.