Ferrari brings major development to the WEC hypercar for 2027

Ferrari has been active in the hypercar class of the FIA WEC since 2023 - and with great success. The 24 Hours of Le Mans has been won three times in a row (so far). In 2025, both world championship titles (driver and manufacturer) were also brought to Maranello. The 499P currently in use has therefore made quite an impression in the WEC paddock.

Of course, Ferrari wants to stay on the winning track. However, according to the WEC rulebook, manufacturers in the hypercar class are not allowed to develop their vehicles indefinitely in order to keep costs under control. Only five authorisations (so-called jokers) are available for performance updates. While the competition has already made good use of the jokers in the past, Ferrari has so far only drawn a single joker. This was in the run-up to the 2024 race in Brazil and related to the brake cooling system.

This means that Ferrari currently has four more jokers at its disposal. "That's right, five minus one would be four," laughs Ferdinando Cannizzo (Head of Engineering for the 499P) and goes on to explain why he and his team have saved up so many jokers. "The vehicle has to be seen as an overall concept. If we change the rear suspension, for example, this has an impact on the gearbox, the engine and the aerodynamics. We therefore decided to work on the individual areas of the car in an integrated way. Ultimately, we did the same thing when we developed the car. We didn't just build a chassis, put a gearbox in and then put some bodywork over it. We always paid attention to synergies."

"That's exactly what we're doing with the Jokers," says Cannizzo, looking ahead to the upcoming developments for 2027. "Over the years, we have come to understand our car better and better and know how to push it to the limit - and we are also aware of our weaknesses, which we now want to interpret not individually, but as a fully integrated package."

Cannizzo also made it clear once again that Ferrari will not be developing a completely new car for 2027, but that the aforementioned jokers will be used: "It will be based on the same homologation."