Yahoo Autos Ferrari’s COTA win was significant in more ways than one
Sept. 1, 2024 will surely go down in Ferrari’s racing history as a particularly memorable day, but perhaps not for the reason you may expect.
Winning both the Italian Formula 1 Grand Prix and the FIA WEC’s Lone Star Le Mans race at COTA in the same 24-hour stretch was a remarkable achievement even for a manufacturer that has countless significant accolades to look back on, and multiple rooms in Maranello with trophies stacked to the ceiling.
The No. 83 Ferrari 499P’s victory at COTA on Sunday night after Charles Leclerc dazzled the tifosi in Monza earlier in the day produced a laundry list of impressive statistics, including the fact that it now has an overall win in two separate FIA world championships on the same day for the first time in its history.
Ferrari also has three WEC Hypercar wins to its name now, with three different cars and driver crews after the No. 51 won the centenary Le Mans 24 Hours and the No. 50 won the 2024 running of the event back in June.
As for the drivers, Robert Kubica, Ye Yifei and Robert Shwartzman scored their first WEC victories and became the second crew driving a privately-funded Hypercar to win a race this season, after Hertz Team JOTA’s dramatic triumph in Spa back in May.
But beyond the key stats, this is a result that may be looked back on as a significant moment for Ferrari’s factory driver roster.
AF Corse and Ferrari pushed to field a third 499P in the WEC this year because it wanted to have a platform at the top end of sports car racing to trial young drivers that it believes have a bright future ahead of them.
Step forward the No. 83’s pair of 24-year-olds: Yifei – who was poached from JOTA over the off-season – and Ferrari Academy graduate Shwartzman, are improving with each passing race weekend with the help of mentorship from Robert Kubica
Prior to yesterday’s race, the No. 83 had its moments and famously led the Le Mans 24 Hours for multiple hours before receiving a costly penalty for wiping out the No. 15 BMW during the night and retiring late in the race with a hybrid system issue.
Lone Star Le Mans therefore felt, as Yifei put it, like “redemption” for June. It certainly looked like a true turning point for this effort, too. It was a complete performance from qualifying through to the end of the race. All three drivers were rapid, stayed mistake-free, and in the case of Yifei and Shwartzman, soaked up major pressure during their stints.
Yifei spent the middle portion of the race leading while managing a set of hard Michelin tires over two stints, and endured a lengthy sequence with Toyota’s Nyck de Vries on his bumper on fresher medium rubber. The Dutchman couldn’t find a way through, cooked his tires and was forced to pit early for an undercut.
Toyota’s attempt to get by via its pit strategy worked, but the pendulum swung back in the final hour. A drive-through for a yellow flag infringement by Kamui Kobayashi dropped the No. 7 behind Shwartzman, creating a chase to the finish.
Kobayashi, who was a combination of frustrated and motivated to make up for lost time, reeled in the Israeli-flagged driver but couldn’t get close enough to make a lunge. Shwartzman’s consistency and ability to manage tire wear were undeniably impressive with the win on the line.
“This is a big moment. They made a mistake, it cost them the win and we used that to our advantage to get the win we were pushing for in Le Mans,” Shwartzman told RACER.
“The last laps were super tricky with Kamui coming, he was flying and I was sliding all over the places because my tires were gone. But I am happy I managed to pull it out.”
Yifei and Shwartzman have now proven their worth in the most competitive top-class field in WEC history on a day in which the factory cars fell away after running as part of a Ferrari 1-2-3 formation in the race’s opening laps.
The pole-sitting No. 51 retired before the halfway mark with a drivetrain issue caused by a damaged wheel rim and the No. 50 crew, who struggled for outright pace, ultimately ran a more conservative strategy to ensure they finished ahead of the championship-leading No. 6 Porsche to close the gap ahead of Fuji. This left the No. 83 to fight for Ferrari’s second win of the season, which it did admirably.
That brings us to the ultimate question: what does the future now hold for Yifei and Shwartzman? Further movement in the Hypercar and GTP driver market is expected in the coming weeks and months ahead of the 2025 season and beyond, and these two are now red-hot property.
All signs point to the No. 83 returning next season with the same line-up, and this would seem to be a smart choice as part of their ongoing development. But they’ll surely be looking to move up to the top table at some point in the not-too-distant future and right now there’s no room at the inn. Both of the current Ferrari AF Corse factory trios look strong and stable.
Will they ultimately stick it out with Ferrari in the long term, or will they switch if other factories come knocking? It will be fascinating to find out…
