Ferrari marked its victory at the 2023 Le Mans 24 Hours with a parade in its home town Maranello.
Its two 499P hypercars were driven from the team’s factory through the town where crowds of people turned out to celebrate their win.The race-winning number 51 machine, still carrying the dirt and dust from the day-long race two weeks ago, led the procession from the factory gates, with its drivers Alessandro Pier Guidi, Antonio Giovinazzi and James Calado onboard. Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen – who claimed pole position for the race and finished fifth – joined them.
Ferrari claimed its first outright victory in the race since 1965 with a margin of 81 seconds over the chasing Toyota GR010 of Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa.
Charles Leclerc, who races for Ferrari’s Formula 1 team, attended the race and said he got only four hours’ sleep as he followed Ferrari’s progress throughout the night.
“I think it’s an incredible race and of course I would love to participate one day,” he said.
“The whole event is crazy. By night, the first six hours were crazy with the weather – rain [then] no rain. So it was very, very exciting. The last time I went to see a race as a spectator was a very, very long time ago.”
While Leclerc is keen to take part in the race one day, he said it would be difficult to fit it in alongside his F1 commitments, even if this year’s race did not directly clash with a grand prix.
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“With more and more races in F1 it starts to become more and more difficult, I think, to fit another race in another category where you need to do testing, et cetera,” he said. “If the calendar lets me do it, why not? But at the moment, it looks difficult.”
“So it’s nice, I would love to do it one day, but you also need to think about the whole season and F1 is obviously the main priority for now.”
However he admitted the event has a huge appeal.
“The excitement around the race itself was incredible to see,” said Leclerc. “I’ve never seen so many people on a race track before.
“It’s a very long track and wherever you go you see lots and lots of people, and very passionate about racing. You know that it’s not the first race they are watching: they’ve been watching for years. It’s good to see so many passionate people at the same event.”
The next round on the World Endurance Championship calendar is Ferrari’s home race at Monza on July 9th.
Pictures: Ferrari celebrates its Le Mans win
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asd
20th June 2023, 19:28
Keith, it’s odd that 2/3 of the article is an interview with a driver who didn’t even participate in the race, instead of the actual drivers that actually raced and celebrate their victory.
AlexS
20th June 2023, 22:02
Indeed , i agree. The voice should be for the winners.
Moshambles (@moshambles)
21st June 2023, 9:44
@AlexS – You mean Toyota? ;)
AlexS
21st June 2023, 15:50
Why Toyota, they weren’t faster than Ferrari even without silly bop.
EffWunFan (@cairnsfella)
22nd June 2023, 1:39
AlexS. How do you figure that out?
AlexS
24th June 2023, 23:37
The difference was about 0.4-0.5 sec per competitive lap, obviously less in other laps.
Coventry Climax
20th June 2023, 23:51
Hypercar. Just the word alone makes me throw up. There’s nothing hyper about an overweight castrated brown labrador when compared to a whippet.
The chassis are all the same, the only thing the teams can tinker with is the engines, but then that is BoPped to equality too.
It’s a laugh. There’s nothing to celebrate. It’s a diversion from the awfuljob they’re doing in F1.
anon
21st June 2023, 8:26
Coventry Climax, I get the impression you don’t actually understand the rules you are ranting about, because your complaint that “the chassis are all the same” is wrong. Have you actually read the regulations, or simply jumped to conclusions based on just a few headlines?
The LMDh cars that are produced to IMSA’s regulations require the use of a standardised survival cell, but the LMH category cars can, and indeed all do, have their own bespoke chassis that was designed in house by the different manufacturers (including the 499P in this article, which was built to the LMH rule set).
Moshambles (@moshambles)
21st June 2023, 9:43
I’ll only agree with the BoP aspect of your comments. The rest of the regs have made it possible possible and attractive for manufactures and privateers to enter WEC and LeMans at the highest level and that’s fantastic. The BoP however, makes it hard to care about for me. Hopefully things will change in that regard because I’d love to be able to enjoy the competition more, even if someone is running away with it.
asd
21st June 2023, 9:44
Hypercar. Just the word alone makes me throw up.
– It’s a really cool name! I love it!
There’s nothing hyper about an overweight castrated brown labrador when compared to a whippet.
– Those cars ARE the fastest closed-wheel cars in the world, so they deserve that name.
The chassis are all the same,
– Ferrari vs. Porsche vs. Peugeot – all very different designs. Also, some of the best looking prototypes in the last 20 years!
the only thing the teams can tinker with is the engines, but then that is BoPped to equality too.
– God bless the BoP not allowing WEC to be another F1 (which makes me throw up).
It’s a laugh. There’s nothing to celebrate. It’s a diversion from the awful job they’re doing in F1.
– And what a beautiful diversion it is! :)
Chris Horton
21st June 2023, 10:11
Forza Ferrari