As the most important event of the World Endurance Championship season, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, approaches, we had the pleasure of chatting with Antonello Coletta, Head of Endurance and Corse Clienti at Ferrari, as well as the mind behind the extraordinary journey the Prancing Horse has undertaken in the category.
Antonello told us about the behind-the-scenes of his work and the Hypercar project of the team from Maranello, the crown jewel of a tight-knit and ambitious division.
Moreover, we had the opportunity to delve deeper into his role within Ferrari and the team’s commitment to the renaissance of the World Endurance Championship, which is finally regaining popularity after a period of difficulty.
There were also insights into the drivers and the long-term vision of the project: in short, a complete journey into the heart of the endurance project of the legendary Italian racing team.
Can you tell us in detail about your role within Ferrari and what you do daily?
It’s complicated because we do a lot of things. Actually, I am accountable for all Ferrari‘s sporting activities outside of Formula 1.
In our division, we are divided into two big “families,” endurance and customer racing, i.e., Corse Clienti.
Let’s look at Corse Clienti races first: the latter, as the name suggests, manages sports customers in the events we organize. These programs include driving courses, which take place around the world, and the Ferrari Challenge, which is divided into two continental series – Europe and the United States – and various “regional” series.
Ours is perhaps the longest-running single-brand, being born in 1993 we have far exceeded thirty years of activity.
In addition to the Ferrari Challenge, we also have a series of non-competitive programs that are very specific and that Ferrari has created from scratch, including Corse Clienti, where customers can purchase cars from past years that have competed in Formula 1 World Championships and, thanks to our technical-sporting organization, can do track days.
The same thing happens with XX programs, which include cars that are only homologated for the track and are based on supercars like the Enzo, LaFerrari, or 599. These cars also do track days only in a non-competitive environment.
The latest creation was the Sport Prototipi Clienti, a program based on the 499P Modificata, which, compared to the “base” 499P, features differences in software, tires, and various details that make it more suitable for use by sports clients. We also organize track days for the Sport Prototipi Clienti program, which takes place on the same days as the XX and F1 Clienti programs.
A similar program, but held on different days, is the Club Competizioni GT, where customers can come to the track with a GT racing car, starting from the F40 and going all the way up to modern cars. For this program, we also created a custom car, the 488 Modificata, based on the 488 GT3 but without BoP. The basis is therefore a lightened GT3 with a much more powerful GTE engine. A car that is certainly very fun for those who have had the opportunity to drive it, considering that, like all the others I mentioned before, it is produced in limited edition.
This is the entire world of Corse Clienti, which comes up beside the endurance world, so the entire competitive environment in all respects.
This is further divided into GT3, based on the 296, a model that is completely designed and produced by us, and for which we also provide after-sales support, so the customer, who can be a team or an individual, is supported from start to finish in the various competitions in which these cars participate.
In endurance, the pinnacle of everything is certainly the 499P, which participates in the endurance world championship, to which we got back in 2023 after a 50-year absence. We are officially participating with two cars and privately with a third one, through AF Corse.
In addition to all this, also under our management is the administration of Ferrari’s owned circuits, therefore Fiorano and Mugello.
As I said before, our activities are many, but it can be summarized as “everything on the track that is not related to the Formula 1 World Championship.“
Regarding WEC, in your opinion, can we say that we are in a new “golden era” of the championship and endurance in general, after a period of difficulties following the end of the LMP1 era?
It is certainly an exceptional moment, we could even call it a “platinum era“, because there’s never been so many manufacturers before. We were coming from a very difficult period for the category, probably also due to the high costs of managing the LMP1 programs, and there was almost no one left.
This other new formula was created recently by FIA and ACO, the organizers of the championship, and it has certainly led to a very important renaissance: currently there are some of the most important car brands in the world and in a few years, we will become 11.
Many manufacturers have joined since 2023, some have already left, but many more are coming.
Overall, it’s an incredible championship, and despite its endurance nature, when a spectator wants to see a race, they always can see it fought until the end, just look at last year at Le Mans, with 9 cars in the top 10 in the leader’s lap. This means that today’s level of competitiveness is extremely high, which has garnered a lot of attention for the category, and this is confirmed by the numbers: at Spa we had over 100,000 spectators, while at Imola we had extremely positive public feedback despite it being Easter weekend.
To this we can add Le Mans, which has its own light, but in general, wherever you go, the numbers are growing a lot.
Ferrari’s return to WEC’s top category has brought a lot of attention to the championship; what were the reasons behind the decision to undertake the 499P project?
Ferrari played a very important role in the revival of the championship for two reasons.
The first reason is that we have returned to being a leading player in the top class of the endurance world championship after a half-century absence, and we all know how much attention anything related to Ferrari attracts.
Additionally, all the brands want to try to beat Ferrari, and this has led to a return of many manufacturers who had been missing in the category for a long time.
To answer the second question, what pushed Ferrari to return: certainly, the fact that the new category that was emerging at the time we made the decision was less demanding from an economic standpoint compared to the previous one, but at the same time it was very interesting from a technological standpoint.
We can test various innovative solutions that can then be put on road cars, so the current endurance formula is an excellent “gym” for innovation.
Furthermore, one must not forget that Ferrari has its own DNA that was born with endurance racing: since its founding, its history and legend have grown thanks to the many victories in endurance races, and this is an aspect we want to emphasize.
This “cocktail” of possibilities and solutions presented itself at this special historical moment, and we thought it was right for us, and from there we made the decision to return.
Additionally, we had come from numerous seasons as protagonists in GT championships around the world, specifically we were coming out of over ten world titles won over the course of fifteen years, so the return to the top endurance category was also a logical evolution of what we were already doing.
What does it feel like to be an active part of the rebirth of a category that, until a few years ago, seemed to be in crisis?
It is undoubtedly a great satisfaction and a great honor; all of us who have the privilege of being part of this team know that we are writing new pages of history tied to Ferrari.
Our last victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans was in 1965, and we returned to win our debut after 58 years, and then we also confirmed it the following year. We also did very well in the other races, finishing second in 2023 and third in 2024, where some circumstances prevented us from doing better, but we were still the main characters. This year, we won the first three races of the championship, but this, in addition to being a great honor, can also be a burden.
One must always remember that when working for Ferrari, one is always motivated to try to do better and never relax, even if one is a key player in a positive period like the one we are experiencing.
Staying on the 24 Hours of Le Mans topic, you managed to win two consecutive editions, one of which was your debut in the category, which is an extraordinary achievement. What impact did this result have on the team?
It certainly had a big impact, especially considering that our team was almost entirely new, although many elements had grown with us in the GT field.
Here, the required skills are more important and, above all, more varied, so we had to greatly expand the team’s roster.
For such a young team, engaged in such an ambitious project to defend the most prestigious brand in the world, winning the first edition of the 24 hours – with a car that had only a few months of development – was not only a huge satisfaction, but also a confirmation of the skills we have.
Each team member was confident in their ability to fulfil their role, which generated a great team spirit: we have an extremely cohesive work group that is made up of different realities, being formed by the union of Ferrari and AF Corse – the team that is responsible for bringing the car on track.
These two entities merged, creating this wonderful group, and we can say 100% that we have become a reference team for the entire endurance paddock worldwide.
Staying on the topic of collaboration with AF Corse: with the introduction of the third car – the 499P managed by AF Corse with the yellow livery – now in its second season, how strategically important is it to have an additional prototype on the grid, both in terms of data collection and race management?
It is very important for several reasons: first and foremost, it allows us to have an extra car to test setup, tires, and fuel consumption during free practice.
It can also be very helpful during the race, because it allows for more differentiated strategies: having a third car means you can try out certain strategic ideas in advance that can then be implemented on the official cars.
Additionally, this third car also allows us to develop drivers, so it is certainly a significant help.
This is why Ferrari brings three completely identical cars, in the same configuration and with the same potential: to make the help that comes from this third car truly concrete and not a presence for its own sake for commercial reasons.
You just talked about driver growth. In this context, what is the role of Ferrari Challenge as a growth platform for those who aspire to join the official programs? Can we consider it a real “school” by taking the path of drivers like Nicklas Nielsen as an example?
Nicklas is certainly the best example that can be made in this sense: he was born and raised within the Ferrari environment, starting with the Ferrari Challenge, then moving to the GT3 and GTE environments up to Hypercars, also passing through an experience in LMP2 during the training phase before debuting on the 499P.
The Ferrari Challenge is essential to us; we have been organizing it for over thirty years, and Nicklas is our crown jewel. In addition to him, there have been many other drivers who have come from the Ferrari Challenge, and although not all of them have made it to the prototypes, we have often seen them as protagonists in various GT championships.
In my opinion, we can say that the Ferrari Challenge has grown a lot and is an excellent stage that allows drivers to grow and be noticed by Ferrari: we are very careful to the youngsters who take part in our championship and try as much as possible to support them in the continuation of their career, providing guidance on teams and guiding them in their choice to direct them towards positive environments for them.
We believe strongly in the growth of young drivers who participate in our championships and we hope that Nielsen’s example will serve as an incentive for those who are currently looking at the Ferrari Challenge as a possible stepping stone to the endurance world.
A slightly more technical question now. Considering the variety of drivers involved in official programs, how complex is it to find a balance—even in crew training—that meets everyone’s needs? Is it more important to find an engineering compromise or is it up to the driver to adapt to the car?
Let’s say the topic is quite broad and complex.
When making driver choices, we’re talking about people we’ve been following for a long time. We try to have them grow in our environment so that we can develop certain characteristics that we consider during the training of crews.
Taking the example of a crew of three drivers consider you cannot have three pure sprinters. Clearly, everyone must be fast because they have to win races, but there can still be the fastest driver in the straight lap, the one who is more skilled in tire management, or the one with more ability to develop the car.
We always try to put together all these “mixes” with the characteristics of each one to optimize the overall quality of the crew and make it complete from every point of view.
It is true that engineers would always want to go fast, but they also need drivers who can provide valuable information on how to improve the car or on strategies. Today, another essential aspect for the growth of a car and a team is the simulator, so we are also looking for drivers who can get the most out of it.
It is the combination of all these aspects that will ultimately make the crew more or less competitive, but it is very complicated to try to put all these characteristics mentioned above together, simply because first you have to have drivers within your own basket that have them.
It often happens that we see certain drivers with certain characteristics and young enough to allow us to work with them and help them grow, which ties in with the discussion of internal development. Current examples of this type include Yifei Ye, who is already official driver on the #83 499P, or Alessio Rovera, who is participating in various GT championships as well as LMP2 car competitions.
We are very active in this area, we believe a lot in the growth of “in-house” drivers.
One final question, of a more general nature: some may consider GT cars as a sort of “fallback” for those who cannot continue their career in single-seaters. How far from reality is this view, and how can this common misconception be dispelled?
The young driver certainly has the ambition to make it to Formula 1, but we know that there are only 20 spots available. There are a thousand difficulties to get there.
However, I think the “mood” has been changing lately: considering endurance races as “B-series” is incorrect; it’s simply a different discipline and I believe it should be considered very important and fascinating.
Endurance, as in prototype racing, is certainly more important than GT, there’s no doubt about that, but GT is certainly a valid basis to try out and gain important experience, because it gives you the opportunity to work with manufacturers, which you don’t have in single-seaters.
Today, in single-seaters, there are only categories where everyone competes with the same chassis, engine, and tires, exception made of course for Formula 1.
It seems almost paradoxical: those who manage to get there have never had the opportunity to get involved in the development and growth of a car, but they focus only on growing as a driver or optimizing the car that is given to them. This is a bit different from the concept of motorsports from a few decades ago, where even in Formula 2 or Formula 3, there were different chassis among the various teams.
In GT, on the other hand, the driver works on cars that are totally different from one another and can gain experience that allows him to develop various technical sensitivity skills.
For those lucky enough to make it this far, the final step is to reach the prototypes, and even then, most of the racing is done by official teams, with private cars being the minority. Consequently, the driver is very actively interacting with the engineering part in all directions; therefore, this cannot be considered a “second-rate” choice.
This is demonstrated by the fact that today, many drivers who have moved from the F1 world are now in the endurance racing environment, and even here they did not arrive easily: we also received many requests for ex-Formula 1 drivers or those about to enter, but we preferred to keep our own drivers.
This confirms that a career in the GT world is not a second-rate option, otherwise, if that was the case, all drivers who have moved from the top formula category would be taken immediately.
The fact that it is not so grants the fact that endurance has its own dignity and complexity, and as in all disciplines, when you reach the top step, you need excellences that are built on the field.
An endurance excellence should be considered as such even if it has not necessarily passed through Formula 1, we are still talking about excellence.
Here, how important is the adaptation between such different categories? Formula and GT cars require very different driving techniques and have different difficulty components, right?
Of course, but in the end, the champions always manage to emerge. One must certainly adapt to the car; there is no doubt about that. In the case of endurance, you also have to adapt to the fact that you have teammates, so you must find a compromise in terms of setup and strategies that satisfy all the crew members, as we said before. This is another complexity that generates maturity in the driver.
As I mentioned before, excellence is also present here in endurance.
