The 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship concludes in the Persian Gulf as the spotlight falls on the 8 Hours of Bahrain. The Ferrari 499P crews arrive for the seventh round of the calendar with the Hypercar number 51 crewed by Pier Guidi-Calado-Giovinazzi, and the number 50, of Fuoco-Molina-Nielsen, holding third and fourth position respectively. Here are the thoughts of the Prancing Horse drivers in the run-up to the final endurance race of the world championship season.
Antonello Coletta, Ferrari Global Head Endurance and Corse Clienti: “We tackle this Bahrain 8 Hours as we do every race in the FIA WEC with the goal of giving the maximum effort to achieve the best possible result. However, given our performances in the recent races at Fuji and Monza, our aspirations for this final round are not the best. We are coming to the end of a season that can undoubtedly be considered positive, marked by a great start sealed with the pole position at Sebring and five podiums in the opening races of the year, right through to our astonishing win at Le Mans. Unfortunately, the final stretch is weighing upon us, but we are aware that we still have much untapped potential.”
Ferdinando Cannizzo, Ferrari Head of Endurance Race Cars: “In Bahrain, we conclude the inaugural year of the 499P with our final race. It’s been a very positive season that has seen our Hypercar show great competitiveness, from the very first race, and equally good reliability. So, in the last two weeks we have worked hard to bow out at the 8 Hours with a good performance. We are also aware that it will be a very close race, given the performances of the other competitors, and that climbing the podium will be very tough. As always, we won’t give up and, although it will be a near impossible task, we will try to put our drivers in a position to be in the fight for the drivers' championship, which is still mathematically open.”
Antonio Fuoco, driver 499P #50: “The 8 Hours of Bahrain will definitely be a hard race considering the conditions we will be up against, starting with the high temperatures. I don’t think we will have an advantage over our competitors on this track considering the layout of the circuit. We will try to do our best to end a season that I think has been very positive for the team overall in the best possible way. Ferrari has managed to pick up great results at Sakhir in the past with the 488 GTE: I have very fond memories of the win in 2022 when, alongside Miguel, I crossed the finish line first in the final race of the LMGTE Pro class.”
Miguel Molina, driver 499P #50: “For the final race of the year we go to Bahrain with the same hopes as in every race – to be in the battle for the podium. We still have a slight chance of winning the championship; we are aware that it will be very tough, but until the race is over we will not give up. This will be our approach, a very focused one. The track? I like it a lot, both in terms of the track itself and the atmosphere of the race, which takes place partly at night. I’ve always been very fast in Bahrain with the Ferrari 488 GTE, and we’ve also had positive feedback from the testing we’ve conducted with the 499P in recent weeks.”
Nicklas Nielsen, driver 499P #50: “Personally I am looking forward to racing in the last round of the season with the goal of coming away with a good result, although I think this will be a difficult race for us, as it was at the 6 Hours of Fuji. In any case, we still have an outside chance of winning the drivers’ championship, so we will get into the cockpit of our 499P with the utmost determination to finish the championship in the best possible way.”
Alessandro Pier Guidi, driver 499P #51: “I’ve got a lot of satisfaction out of Bahrain over the years, so much so that I consider it a “friendly” track, where I have celebrated the drivers’ championship title three times in the Ferrari 488 GTE and where we have achieved the same number of winners’ laurels in the Manufacturers’ Championship. There have been some great memories, but we have to be realistic: after Le Mans we struggled to express ourselves at our highest level, so in the run-up to this race, as we hope for a great result we will also have to count on a bit of luck. In any case, this 2023 season, I think, has been beyond our wildest expectations, so much so that I would have definitely taken a year like this before it started.”
James Calado, driver 499P #51: “I think the first goal for this race will be to secure third place in the drivers’ standings, knowing that it could be a tricky race for us. We set off for this race, in any case, with the ambition of ending a positive year for our whole team on a high, with the Le Mans result the highlight of the season.”
Antonio Giovinazzi, driver 499P #51: “I really like the Sakhir track, but the last round of the season won’t be easy at all. Eight hours is a long time and the heat factor, considering the temperatures in Bahrain, may affect the result. We will have to be very focused and avoid any mistakes in order to be in a good position in the final stage of the race and, that way, try to get a good result at the finish line. For us it will be the conclusion of a fantastic year, with the highlight being the historic result at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.”