The Ferrari 499Ps return to action for the grand finale of the FIA World Endurance Championship – the 8 Hours of Bahrain – scheduled at the Sakhir circuit. The race will get underway on Saturday 4 November at 2 p.m. local time.
Prior to the round that will bring the curtain down on the 2023 world championship season, the 499P, the “queen” of the 24 Hours of Le Mans will feature at the Ferrari Finali Mondiali at the Mugello Circuit over the weekend. The winning Hypercar from the centenary edition of the world's most renowned endurance race will be on display in the paddock and will also make an appearance on the track, parading around the Tuscan track as part of the Ferrari Show on Sunday 29. The public will have free access to the lawn from Friday 27 October to Sunday 29 October (entrance from the “Cancello Palagio”).
55 days after the previous round in Fuji, Japan, which ended with a fourth and fifth place respectively for Hypercars number 50 and 51, the Ferrari – AF Corse team will be back in the spotlight for the seventh round of the World Endurance Championship in a race that will prove decisive for the drivers’ title.
The race sees 39 points up for grabs overall, 38 for the race victory and a point for pole position. Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi, third in the standings, arrive at Bahrain with a 31-point gap from the leaders of the rankings; five points further back, in fourth place, are teammates Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen. Therefore, both the number 51 and number 50 499P crews are still mathematically in the running for the drivers' title in the Hypercar class; however, in the run-up to the Persian Gulf race, the challenge appears far from straightforward.
The upcoming weekend at the circuit, established in 2004 and previously used for testing the 499Ps in September, is set to begin on Thursday 2 November, featuring the first two free practice sessions at 12:15 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Friday 3 November will see the third free practice session, from 12 p.m., and the 15-minute qualifying session for the Hypercar class from 5:05 p.m., which will dictate the starting grid for the 8 Hours, with a green flag scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m. (times are local).