Ferrari “can’t relax” despite back-to-back WEC wins

Ferrari says it cannot afford to rest on its laurels despite starting the 2025 World Endurance Championship with two consecutive wins.

The Italian manufacturer followed its historic 1-2-3 finish in February’s Qatar season opener with another fine victory in front of its home crowd at Imola last weekend.

These two results have given Ferrari a comfortable 29-point lead in the manufacturers’ championship over BMW, while its three crews dominate the drivers’ standings, led by Imola winners James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi and Antonio Giovinazzi.

Antonello Coletta, Global Head of Endurance at Ferrari, said the Prancing Horse’s early form in 2025 is the reward for all the work that went into making the 499P LMH an even more potent challenger over the winter.

However, Coletta stressed that Ferrari must remain most focused on remaining at the front in the remainder of the season, as it chases a third straight triumph at the Le Mans 24 Hours in June.

“The satisfaction is immense with this victory in Italy for the number 51 499P in front of our tifosi,” he said.

“After our Qatar one-two-three, today reaffirmed how effective our winter development work has been. At Imola, we’d obviously hoped for stronger results with the other two cars, but for different reasons, we couldn’t achieve what we’d targeted.

“We take home a second win from as many races this season. My compliments to the whole team for the excellent job they did, as demonstrated on Saturday, for example, when we managed to substitute the engine of the number 83 in just one hour and 45 minutes – in time for qualifying – and secured a second place on the starting grid.

“This is undoubtedly a strong moment for us, but we can’t relax: there are six more rounds ahead, including the biggest challenge at Le Mans.”

The #51 Ferrari shared by Calado, Pier Guidi and Giovinazzi dominated the 6 Hours of Imola on Sunday from pole position, taking the chequered flag by almost 10 seconds from the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8 of Rene Rast, Sheldon van der Linde and Robin Frijns.

A number of teams experimented with unconventional strategies late in the race, with the #6 Porsche 963 most prominently taking the lead in the fourth hour, but the #51 crew largely maintained an edge over its rivals.

The customer #83 AF Corse Ferrari of Robert Kubica, Phil Hanson and Yifei Ye finished fourth after starting from the front row, while Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen finished 15th in the the factory #50 Ferrari after their recovery drive was compromised by a puncture sustained in a collision with the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid of Sebastien Buemi.

“This result rewards all the efforts made and reflects the incredible work and determination of the entire team,” said Ferdinando Cannizzo, Head of Ferrari Endurance Race Cars.

“I’m disappointed we couldn’t put the number 50 499P on the podium due to the puncture, but the strategy we’d set to move it up the order was working very well.

“The number 51 crew delivered a flawless performance—despite the race being complex and the competition, as expected, extremely strong, we executed everything perfectly. Now we look ahead, aware that more tough races await, but with this spirit, I’m confident we’ll achieve further success.”