The new Ferrari Le Mans Hypercar that will join the World Endurance Championship next year will employ technology from the Italian manufacturer’s Formula 1 team.
Antonello Coletta, who is heading up the LMH project in his role as boss of the Attivita Sportive GT department at Ferrari, explained that the marque’s first factory prototype program in 50 years is utilizing all the technological resources available within the company.
“I think that the technology that we have in Ferrari is one of the most important assets for us and it is normal that we share this technology in all our projects,” Coletta told motorsport.tv in an exclusive interview for the Ferrari channel.
“It is normal that the LMH project has an experience of F1, but not just from F1 but also from the road cars – it is a synthesis of our knowledge.
“Our technicians are mixed of all of these, and we hope to realize a very competitive and amazing car.”
He added that some of the solutions on the LMH hybrid prototype have already been “taken from past experiences both at F1 level and from road cars”.
“Ferrari is a great company with a very important technical heritage and our role has always been that of innovators,” he said.
“Given the new regulations it was impossible not to go fishing for knowledge and the important thing to underline is the LMH is not the project of a part of the company, but it is a transversal project because Ferrari is one.
“It would be silly to not take advantage of all the know-how we have at our disposal.”
The LMH program, announced in February 2021, is being masterminded from new Attivita Sportive GT premises next to the Ferrari’s Fiorano test track along with the new 296 GT3 racer, which will be released to customers in time for next season.
Coletta described the facility opened last year combining the Competizioni GT and Corse Clienti departments as “a testimonial of the importance to Ferrari about our business”.
He called the LMH “an important challenge” for Ferrari as it aims to add to its tally of nine overall victories at the Le Mans 24 Hours, the centerpiece round of the WEC.
Ferrari has yet to release technical details of the LMH, including the configuration of its internal combustion engine, but is expected to make a further announcement in June.
The Ferrari LMH, which will run a front-axle hybrid system, is penciled in to turn a wheel for the first time in July, though Coletta stressed that no firm date had been set.
Attivita Sportive GT technical director Ferdinando Cannizzo confirmed that the LMH project is “on schedule at the moment”.
He revealed that the first iteration of the LMH ran on the simulator as long as one year ago.
“Clearly it was something that kept evolving month after month after looking at the results – every session brings new idea to the table,” he explained.
“The car exists virtually and we are continually developing; we are now excited to see the car on track.”
Coletta reaffirmed Ferrari’s intention to begin testing with drivers from its existing GT roster, which includes reigning WEC GTE Pro champions Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado.
He also once again hinted at a future involvement by Ferrari in the top class of the IMSA SportsCar Championship after the North American series cleared the way for LMH machinery to compete in its series in the middle of last year.
“For Ferrari the US market is crucially important,” he said.
“But in 2023, we will be involved just in the WEC.
For more on the Motorsport.tv Ferrari channel go to https://motorsport.tv/channel/ferrari/271.
