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Ferrari to field three 499Ps at FIA WEC Round 4 in Brazil, focused on championship points

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Seo Jae-geun
Published : July 8, 2026 - 10:52:20
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Ferrari will enter three 499Ps in Round 4 of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship at the Interlagos circuit in São Paulo, Brazil, the automaker announced Wednesday.
Ferrari will enter three 499Ps in Round 4 of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship at the Interlagos circuit in São Paulo, Brazil, the automaker announced Wednesday.

Ferrari will enter three 499Ps in Round 4 of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship at the Interlagos circuit in São Paulo, Brazil. Returning to racing four weeks after the Le Mans 24 Hours, Ferrari will again compete at the storied South American circuit, which is hosting the FIA WEC for the third consecutive year.

The race marks the halfway point of the eight-round season. The São Paulo 6 Hours is scheduled to start at 11:30 a.m. local time on Sunday, July 12.

Ferrari said it will focus on securing World Championship points at the Brazilian round.

The No. 51 Ferrari 499P will carry the FIA WEC drivers' champion lineup of Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi, who finished fifth at the Le Mans 24 Hours.

The No. 50 Ferrari 499P will be driven by Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen, who were forced to retire at Le Mans. The third entry, the No. 83 car run by AF Corse, will feature Ferrari works drivers Yifei Ye, Phil Hanson and Robert Kubica, who crossed the finish line seventh at Le Mans.

The Interlagos circuit is named after José Carlos Pace, a legendary driver who helped usher in a golden era of Brazilian motorsport in Formula 1 during the 1970s. The track, which opened in 1940, measures 4.309 kilometers in its current layout — the shortest circuit on the FIA WEC calendar — and has held a place in international motorsport history since 1985.

The circuit runs counterclockwise and features 15 corners — 10 left-handers and five right-handers. Frequent elevation changes and short straights make Interlagos a classic medium-to-low-speed venue. The circuit hosted the FIA WEC from 2012 to 2014 and has continued to do so for three consecutive years since the championship entered the Hypercar era.

Ferrari's best result at this circuit with the 499P is a fifth-place finish, set by Pier Guidi, Calado and Giovinazzi in 2024.

Ferrari currently sits third in the manufacturers' championship with 62 points, 70 behind the leader. In the drivers' standings, Pier Guidi, Calado and Giovinazzi are fifth with 39 points, 36 adrift of the lead. Fuoco, Molina and Nielsen are ninth with 23 points, while Ye, Hanson and Kubica are 11th with 21 points.

On Friday, two 90-minute practice sessions will be held at 11 a.m. and 3:50 p.m. A third practice session follows Saturday morning from 10:10 to 11:10 a.m., with qualifying at 3:10 p.m. and the Hyperpole session at 3:30 p.m. that afternoon — together determining the starting grid for the São Paulo 6 Hours. The green flag for the main race flies Sunday at 11:30 a.m. local time.

Meanwhile, Ferrari recently unveiled the Ferrari 12Cilindri Manuale, a limited-edition special series variant of the Ferrari 12Cilindri, drawing attention from supercar enthusiasts around the world.

The 12Cilindri Manuale is the first Ferrari to feature the "Manuale by Wire" system, engineered entirely in Maranello. The system allows the driver to operate the six-speed gearbox — including reverse — in manual mode, while also offering an automatic mode, giving drivers the freedom to choose between full engagement and relaxed comfort behind the wheel.


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