Ferrari responds to No. 50 499P’s Le Mans disqualification

Ferrari has issued a detailed statement following the disqualification of its No. 50 499P Hypercar from the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The car, driven by Nicklas Nielsen, Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina, was stripped of its fourth-place finish in the World Endurance Championship’s centrepiece event after failing post-race scrutineering.

Officials found that four bolts were missing from the rear wing support structure, while the wing itself was deflecting by 52mm—well above the 15mm limit allowed by the technical regulations.

The stewards ruled that the absence of the bolts posed a potential safety risk and suggested the car may have gained a performance advantage through excessive flexing, noting that it achieved its highest top speed on lap 370 of 378.

While Ferrari has confirmed it will not appeal the decision, the Italian manufacturer insisted that the missing bolts “provided no advantage in terms of performance or the final standing.”

It explained that the No. 50 car’s top speed late in the race was a result of running in the slipstream of the sister No. 51 Ferrari, driven by Antonio Giovinazzi, Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado.

Ferrari also stressed that “the absence of one or more of these components did not compromise the car’s safety in any way.”

According to the team, one missing bolt was identified by a mechanic during the car’s final pitstop, while the remaining bolts detached over the closing 37 minutes of the race.

The manufacturer’s two other Hypercar entries, including the race-winning No. 83 AF Corse-run Ferrari of Robert Kubica, Phil Hanson and Yifei Ye, successfully passed post-race scrutineering.

Full statement

“Following post-race scrutineering at the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans, the number 50 Ferrari 499P, which had finished fourth, was disqualified for a technical infringement, as stated in Decision number 225 issued by the Stewards. The irregularity concerned the absence of four bolts from the central rear wing support. The other two 499P entries – the number 83, which won the race, and the number 51, which finished third – passed post-race scrutineering without any issues.

As reported by the Stewards, during the number 50 car’s last pit stop at 3.23 p.m. on Sunday, 15 June, a Ferrari – AF Corse team mechanic noticed that only one of the bolts securing the central rear wing support was missing.

Given the design of the element, the absence of one or more of these components did not compromise the car’s safety in any way. The subsequent loss of the remaining bolts during the final 37 minutes of the race provided no advantage in terms of performance or the final standings.

The top speed of the number 50 499P reported by the Stewards in their decision was recorded during the car’s final seven laps while it was running in the slipstream of its sister car, the number 51 499P.

While surprised by the decision, Ferrari reaffirms its complete confidence in the professionalism and integrity of its team, in the actions taken, and in its respect for the regulations governing the FIA World Endurance Championship.

With full confidence in those same regulations, even though the incident in question offered no competitive advantage to the crew, nor did it compromise the safety of our drivers or that of other competitors, Ferrari is already at work ahead of the next rounds of a season that resumes under the global spotlight in July, in Brazil.

Following the disqualification of the number 50 499P, Ferrari retains its lead in the championship’s Manufacturers’ standings with 172 points. In the World Drivers’ Championship, the trio of Pier Guidi–Calado–Giovinazzi leads with 105 points, followed by Ye–Kubica–Hanson with 89 and Fuoco–Molina–Nielsen with 57.