Solid day for the Maranello Scuderia
The 2026 FIA WEC season opened with the Prologue, held today at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari International Circuit in Imola. The three Ferrari 499P cars were able to take advantage of the eight hours of activity, divided into two sessions, to get familiar especially with the new wet tires. In both sessions, the Prancing Horse cars ranked in the top three among the 17 Hypercars entered in the top class of the Endurance World Championship.
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A definitely productive day in terms of laps completed, with the two official Ferrari – AF Corse team cars completing 176 laps with crew number 50, composed of Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen, and 186 laps with the teammates of number 51, Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi. The 499P entered by the private AF Corse team, on the other hand, completed 194 laps with the official Prancing Horse drivers Yifei Ye and Phil Hanson alternating at the wheel with Robert Kubica.
First session. The green flag of the Prologue waved at 9:00 am with a still wet track, which allowed all the teams involved to test the new Michelin wet tires. During the three and a half hours of the morning session, the three Ferrari 499P cars occupied the top three positions, with number 51 of the reigning World Drivers’ Champions Pier Guidi-Calado-Giovinazzi in first place thanks to a best time of 1’31”586, and a total of 89 laps completed. In second place was number 83 of AF Corse with Ye-Hanson-Kubica, just 97 thousandths behind the top and with 96 laps completed. Third position went to car number 50 of Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen, 982 thousandths behind its sister car and with 82 laps completed.
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Second session. In the second session, held from 2:00 pm to 6:30 pm – starting on a dry track before the rain returned to wet the Italian circuit, forcing the teams to fit Wet tires again – the Ferrari 499P cars once again occupied the top three positions in the standings. This time it was number 50 of Ferrari – AF Corse that set the best time, stopping the clock at 1’31”177, ahead of number 83 of AF Corse in 1’31”303, 126 thousandths behind. Third position went to car number 51, with a time of 1’31”375 and a gap of 198 thousandths. Regarding laps completed, the numbers were very similar: 94 for number 50, 97 for number 51 and 98 for number 83.
The schedule. Track activities in Imola resume on Friday, April 17 with two 90-minute free practice sessions scheduled at 10:15 am and 3:15 pm. On Saturday, April 18, the third free practice session of one hour will take place at 10:30 am, while at 3:10 pm the 12-minute Qualifying session will start and at 3:30 pm the Hyperpole. The race on Sunday, April 19 will see the green flag wave at 1:00 pm and the checkered flag fall at 7:00 pm (local times).
