WEC | Le Mans Hyperpole – Ferrari off the pace but confident for comeback. Ferrari fell short in the Hyperpole at Le Mans, with its top car starting seventh.

For Ferrari, the Hyperpole session of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the Hypercar class was certainly not a highlight, although there is still ample opportunity to recover in the fourth round of the 2025 WEC season.

The outcome of the Hyperpole session for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the fourth race of the 2025 WEC season, left Ferrari with some regrets. In the Hypercar class, the Italian 499P LMHs remained fairly distant from the front, especially when compared to the Cadillac V-Series.R LMDh cars, the true standouts on Thursday in France.

The 93rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans will see the #50 499P, driven by Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, and Nicklas Nielsen, starting from seventh position. The #51 499P Ferrari of Antonio Giovinazzi, James Calado, and Alessandro Pier Guidi will begin from eleventh. Two places further back, in thirteenth, is the #83 499P from AF Corse, shared by Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye, and Phil Hanson. As mentioned, two of the three Italian cars stopped at Hyperpole 1.

Alessandro Pier Guidi could not go beyond a 3:24.143 lap. In Hyperpole 1, Miguel Molina qualified the #50 499P in fourth place with a 3:23.273. Afterwards, in the next segment, Fuoco took over the wheel, setting a personal best of 3:24.213 and placing seventh overall.

Driver comments
Once the session ended, several Ferrari drivers shared their thoughts on the official Ferrari portal, highlighting the main takeaways from their Hyperpole, with the day still not over due to the next free practice session.

Miguel Molina said: “Today I returned to a Hyperpole session after more than two years, stepping in for Nicklas Nielsen. I did my best to qualify the 499P for Hyperpole 2, then handed over the wheel to Antonio Fuoco. Seventh place is a good starting spot for a race that will be long and complex. From now until Saturday, we’ll focus on preparing the car as well as possible, analyzing every aspect of it and especially thinking about race pace.”

Antonio Giovinazzi added: “The Hyperpole certainly ended below our expectations, considering we didn’t make the top ten. In any case, the 24 Hours is a long race where anything can happen. Grid position isn’t that crucial. At the start, we’ll need to be careful and avoid any contact. Then we’ll do our best to achieve the best possible result in the most anticipated race of the season.”