Ferrari: Pressure More on Our Rivals Than Us for Le Mans

Ferrari believes that its Hypercar competitors will face more pressure heading into this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, as the Italian marque aims for a historic third consecutive win in the French endurance classic with its 499P.

Mauro Barbieri, Ferrari’s performance and regulations manager, made the claim in the run-up to last month’s previous round of the FIA World Endurance Championship at Spa, where Ferrari continued its dominant start to the season with a 1-2 finish.

Despite having swept the board so far in the 2025 WEC season with victories at Qatar and Imola as well as Spa, Barbieri believes that Ferrari cannot claim to be the clear favorite to win again at La Sarthe, merely “among” the favorites.

But he believes one thing that could play in the Italian marque’s favor is what he described as a “positive” mindset as it bids to repeat its 2023 and ’24 successes, which he contrasted with the “obsession” of its rivals to dethrone the Prancing Horse.

“Honestly if we look at the main competitors, I would limit it to Porsche and Toyota, but BMW and Alpine have made steps since last year,” said Barbieri. “Cadillac is always a bit inconsistent, let’s say, but when they have the pace they are strong.

“I don’t think we can say we are the favorite. We are among the group of favorites. Le Mans is unique; there are so many things that can happen before or during the race.

“You might start as an underdog and win or you might start as the favorite and be nowhere on Sunday morning.  Of course we don’t hold back and we’ll try our best to get the third win in a row.

“For us it would be a dream to ‘three-peat’, but for some of our competitors it’s more like an obsession to win this year.

“With this positivity, you are living a dream, and trying to achieve another historic result for such a historic brand as Ferrari will give us some extra motivation. But I think the pressure is more on the others.”

Looking back on Ferrari’s wins at Qatar and Imola, Barbieri pointed to tire degradation and balance improvements as areas where the 499P has made a step for 2025.

“Race after race we have been understanding the factors that have led us to not using the tires in the best way,” he said. “With driving style, with set-up solutions, we are probably in a better position to manage tires now over multiple stints.

“If we look at the first season in 2023, race management improved quite a lot within in the team, at least from my perspective, partially because being a rookie in the first year, there are many things you need to learn. 

“The drivers and engineers gave each other feedback to try and improve the whole package, and we gained a more consistent balance through the stint and having a better usage of the tires. The two things together have improved our racing ability, let’s say.”

Despite Ferrari getting off to a dominant start in the WEC, Barbieri cautioned that the Italian marque’s weakest tracks on the calendar are yet to come.

Asked by Sportscar365 whether he felt Ferrari was now approaching the full potential of the 499P in its current form, without the use of further Evo jokers, Barbieri described the latter half of the season as the “checkpoint” to gain a full understanding.

“We look quite strong everywhere and in every condition, but I am waiting for the second half of the season because this is where we suffered the most,” he said. “I’m thinking about Fuji and Sao Paulo mainly.

“Let’s see after Le Mans if we can confirm this overall performance, or if we need to find something to improve the package.

“For sure we are not resting, we keep working to try and improve every detail. The level of the championship is high and it’s only going to get higher in the coming years as new cars arrive and the cars that are already competing improve as well.”