Ferrari Hypercar secured a bittersweet podium finish at the 6 Hours of Monza, with the #51 Ferrari 499P promoted to third place following a 20-second penalty for Aston Martin. However, tyre pressure infringements also proved costly for the Italian manufacturer, with both the #50 and #83 Ferraris receiving penalties that compromised their chances of achieving stronger results on home soil.
The #51 Ferrari 499P, driven by Alessandro Pier Guidi, Antonio Giovinazzi and James Calado, originally crossed the finish line in fourth place. However, a dramatic post-race development saw the #007 Aston Martin of Harry Tincknell and Tom Gamble handed a 20-second penalty for a tyre pressure infringement, allowing Ferrari to inherit the final position on the podium.
Ferrari 499P hit by tyre pressure penalties at Monza
Unfortunately for Ferrari, tyre pressure infringements were a recurring problem throughout the Monza weekend. Both the #50 and #83 Ferrari 499P entries received 20-second penalties for the same offence, severely affecting their final results.
The #50 Ferrari, shared by Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen, was penalised during the opening hour of the race, effectively ending its podium ambitions at an early stage. It was a particularly frustrating outcome considering the crew had secured pole position and appeared well placed to challenge for a strong result.
Despite starting from the front of the grid, Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen could only finish seventh overall. Meanwhile, the #83 Ferrari 499P driven by Philip Hanson, Robert Kubica and Yifei Ye crossed the finish line in ninth place.
The result highlighted the difficulties Ferrari faced at Monza, where straight-line speed and the ability to overtake proved decisive. Although the Italian manufacturer ultimately celebrated a podium finish in front of its home supporters, the overall performance left its drivers acknowledging that further improvements would be necessary.
Alessandro Pier Guidi admits Ferrari expected more from its Hypercar season
Following the race, Alessandro Pier Guidi expressed disappointment with Ferrari’s overall performance, admitting that the team had expected greater progress after the development work carried out on the Evo version of the 499P.
“The overall assessment isn’t particularly positive. We certainly expected something more, especially considering the work we did last year and the year before to introduce the Evo. We’ve never managed to achieve a completely positive result. We’ve always scored good points, but never a podium or a victory. The only victory was at Spa, but then we were demoted by five seconds, so…”
“We expected more, which means we need to work better for next year. The potential is definitely there, but we still need to find a way to unlock it. Essentially, I’d say it’s been a worse season because I’ve normally always managed to take at least one victory, whereas this year I haven’t even achieved a podium, and that’s very difficult to accept.”
Alessandro Pier Guidi’s comments reflected the frustration surrounding Ferrari’s Hypercar programme, particularly given the expectations created by the development of the 499P Evo. While the team had continued to score valuable championship points, the lack of victories and the difficulty of consistently extracting the car’s potential remained major concerns.
Antonio Giovinazzi dedicates Ferrari’s Monza podium to the fans
Antonio Giovinazzi offered a more positive assessment of the result, believing Ferrari had extracted the maximum possible from a difficult race. However, the Italian driver acknowledged that the 499P lacked the straight-line speed required to compete with its strongest rivals at Monza.
“We brought home the maximum we could achieve. We were lacking a little speed, which is important at Monza, but that’s how it went. It wasn’t easy, although perhaps it was more entertaining for the fans.”
“I’d said that we had very little data in these temperatures, so it was a bit of a gamble. In the end, I don’t think we were the fastest, as we saw. Cadillac did an excellent job, and so did Alpine.”
“In any case, this third place is something our fans deserved. They’ve been fantastic since Friday, so we’re happy with that. Come on, two podiums at Imola and here, and now we’ll focus on preparing for next year.”
For Antonio Giovinazzi, the support of the Italian fans provided an important consolation after a demanding race. Ferrari’s podium at Monza followed another top-three finish at Imola, giving the team something positive to take away despite the performance limitations encountered during the event.
Nicklas Nielsen frustrated by double penalty and Ferrari’s overtaking difficulties
Nicklas Nielsen was particularly disappointed with the outcome for the pole-sitting #50 Ferrari, explaining that the tyre pressure infringement had effectively resulted in two separate disadvantages during the race.
“Everything looked very positive for us after qualifying. I think Antonio did a really excellent job because qualifying was difficult in terms of track conditions.”
“Obviously, it was a shame about the tyre pressures in the race, because we had to come in and change them, and we also received a penalty. So, in the end, it was effectively a double punishment, because you have to change the tyres and then you get a penalty on top of that.”
The setback was compounded by Ferrari’s difficulties in traffic. According to Nicklas Nielsen, the #50 crew had the pace to recover positions, but the 499P’s straight-line speed deficit made overtaking extremely challenging.
“I think, on paper, we had the pace to make a real recovery, but in practice it was more difficult because, as we know, overtaking is difficult, especially since most of the cars are faster than us on the straights.”
“So once you find yourself in the dirty air behind another car, you just have to stay there and wait for a mistake or some traffic to help you get past. That was practically the only opportunity we had to recover positions.”
“Clearly, this isn’t the ending we expected, especially considering we started from pole position.”
The contrasting fortunes of Ferrari’s three Hypercar entries summed up a frustrating afternoon at Monza. While Alessandro Pier Guidi, Antonio Giovinazzi and James Calado ultimately secured a podium thanks to Aston Martin’s penalty, the sanctions imposed on the other two 499P cars and the difficulties experienced in traffic prevented Ferrari from fully capitalising on its qualifying performance.
With the drivers already looking towards the following season, the challenge for Ferrari will be to unlock more of the 499P’s potential and address the weaknesses that prevented the team from achieving a stronger result at its home event.
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