Le Mans Yesterday and Today: Ferrari

Roarington's journey to discover the most successful manufacturers in the history of the 24 Hours of Le Mans stops today at the third step of the podium occupied by Ferrari, just behind Porsche and Audi in terms of overall victories, as we have discovered in previous weeks.

At the end of the 1940s, Ferrari began receiving requests from Italy and across Europe to race with the Red cars from wealthy client drivers like the Marzotto brothers. But it was Luigi Chinetti who changed Ferrari's history. When he arrived in Maranello in 1948, he had already realized the commercial potential of these cars in the United States. He tried to convince Enzo Ferrari to race officially at Le Mans, but facing the "Drake's" fear of not being ready for such a demanding race, he bought two 166 MM cars, entering them in the 1949 Le Mans and winning. It was Ferrari's first overall victory at its debut on the Circuit de la Sarthe.

The Ferrari 166MM, winner at Le Mans in 1949 with Lord Selsdon and Luigi Chinetti, who drove for 23 of the 24 hours of the race.

Luigi Chinetti continued his collaboration with Ferrari at Le Mans until 1952 when the "American" NART team was joined by the official Maranello team, now convinced of their cars' competitiveness. It didn't take long to win again, and in 1954 Ferrari triumphed with the 375 Plus driven by Gonzalez and Trintignant.

The 375 Plus won the 1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, representing the first victory for Scuderia Ferrari's official team.

From 1958 to 1962, the 24 Hours of Le Mans was dominated by Ferrari's new car, the 250 Testa Rossa. This dominance was only interrupted in 1959 by the Aston Martin DBR1 of Shelby and Salvadori. Olivier Gendebien was the absolute star, winning the French marathon four times with teammates Phil Hill and Paul Frère, the last time in 1962 with the 330 TRI, an evolution of the 250 Testa Rossa.

The Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa and its evolution, the 330 TRI, dominated the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 1958 to 1962, only interrupted by the Aston Martin DBR1 in 1959.

Subsequent years saw regulatory changes that ushered in the era of prototypes, with Ferrari winning again for three consecutive years: first in 1963 with the 250 P driven by Scarfiotti and Bandini, then in 1964 with the 275 P driven by Guichet and Vaccarella, and finally with the 250 LM, entered by NART, driven by Jochen Rindt and Masten Gregory in 1965. This marked Ferrari's ninth overall victory.

The victory of the 250 LM in 1965 was Ferrari's last overall win before their return to the Hypercar class in 2023.

The advent of the Ford GT40 with its 7000 cc engines against Ferrari's 4000 cc engines in the late 1960s, the Porsche 917K in 1970, and the Matra with its powerful V12s led to a period of scarce success for Ferrari in France, resulting in the decision at the end of the 1973 season to focus exclusively on returning to victory in Formula 1.

It took 50 years to see Ferrari officially registered for an overall victory at the 24 Hours again. The return to the World Endurance Championship happened in 2023 with the hybrid hypercar 499P, which managed to win on its debut, beating rivals such as Toyota, Porsche, and Cadillac. This car, born under a lucky star, repeated its success a few months ago, bringing Ferrari's eleventh overall victory to the record books.

The Ferrari 499P developed to compete in the WEC in the Hypercar category. It won on its debut in 2023 and repeated the feat in 2024 for a historic back-to-back double.