Ferrari have finally announced who will be manning their two 499P Hypercars in the 2023 World Endurance Championship. From an Ex-F1 racer to established factory drivers, in this article we will take an in-depth look at each man behind the wheel of the Prancing Horse.
Headlining the driver line-up is ex-Alfa Romeo F1 racer Antonio Giovinazzi who will be making his official racing debut for Ferrari after being part of their development programme since 2016. The Italian will be manning the #51 499P, joined by the only Brit in the line-up, James Calado, and compatriot Alessandro Pier Guidi.
In the sister #50 499P will be Italian Ferrari F1 development driver Antonio Fuoco, Spanish sportscar ace Miguel Molina, and the youngest on the squad, Nicklas Nielsen from Denmark.
Together, these six drivers will be aiming to achieve the first overall 24 hours of Le Mans victory for Ferrari since 1965.
Antonio Giovinazzi
Arguably the highest-profile driver in the lineup, racing for Ferrari has been a long time coming for the man born in Martina Franca.
Winning multiple karting championships from 2006-2011, Giovinazzi started his single seater career in 2012, winning the Formula Pilota China championship.
A move to the UK in 2013 to compete in the British Formula Three series proved successful as the Italian nabbed second place in the championship.
Giovinazzi had another impressive season in 2015, placing second in the European Formula 3 championship, ahead of current Formula One drivers Charles Leclerc, George Russell, Alexander Albon, and Lance Stroll.
This earned a promotion to GP2 in 2016, which proved to be Giovinazzi’s most impressive season yet. The Italian fought with Pierre Gasly for the championship all the way to the end, just missing out and finishing, again, in second place.
Throughout the year Giovinazzi took part in multiple endurance races, winning two rounds of the Asian Le Mans Series and placing well in two rounds of WEC.
This season alone impressed Ferrari to sign Giovinazzi as their reserve driver for the 2017 F1 season.
The Italian made his F1 debut at the 2017 Australian Grand Prix for Sauber, subbing in for an injured Pascal Wehrlein, and would finish an impressive 12th on his debut.
Giovinazzi would again race in the Chinese Grand Prix, but would retire early on, marking an end to his brief stint in F1 for now.
2018 would be quiet as Giovinazzi worked behind the scenes as Ferrari’s test and development driver but would be given an outing to race at the 24 hours of Le Mans with the AF Corse factory team, finishing 5th in class.
In 2019, Giovinazzi made his full-season F1 debut with the Alfa Romeo team, alongside Kimi Raikkonen. Despite a slow-start to the season and racing in middle-tier equipment, a fifth-place finish at the Brazilian Grand Prix was the highlight of his season, and Grand Prix career.
Giovinazzi would continue to race in Formula One until 2021, where his time in the sport came to an end.
From 2022 onwards, the Italian has been working with Ferrari on the development of the 499P Hypercar and will finally race with the Prancing Horse in 2023.
James Calado
The only Brit in the driver lineup, James Calado is one of those drivers who should have made it to F1 but never had the opportunity or backing to make his dream become a reality.
Successful in the British Cadet class karting championships, Calado started his open-wheel career immediately winning Formula Renault championships in the UK and Portugal in 2008.
A promotion to British Formula Three in 2010 saw him take second, finishing behind future F1 driver Jean-Eric Vergne.
Competing in the 2011 GP3 series, Calado again finished runner-up, falling just short of Valtteri Bottas for the title.
The Brit then competed in the GP2 series in 2012-2013 and impressed massively, finishing fifth and third, scoring four wins.
The results spoke for themselves, and Calado was picked up by the Force India F1 team in 2013 as their reserve driver.
Tests and running in practice sessions displayed his immense speed, but like many young drivers with the F1 dream, Calado never had the backing to secure a race seat.
However, one’s loss is another’s gain and Ferrari picked up Calado to race for their WEC GTE Pro programme, leading to a seventh-place finish in the championship.
Wins and podiums in the championship ensued and in 2017, paired with Alessandro Pier Guidi, Calado won the GTE Pro championship with three race wins.
In 2019, Calado achieved one of the highest achievements in motorsport and won the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Pier Guidi.
The Pairing of Calado and Pier Guidi became arguably the strongest in WEC, winning another Le Mans and GTE Pro championship in 2021, as well as winning the championship again in 2022.
Driving with Ferrari in the WEC Hypercar class in 2023, this season will be Calado’s first time competing for the overall win at Le Mans.
Antonio Fuoco
Fuoco appeared to be Ferrari’s next hope in bringing in a junior driver into the world of Formula One, but a fellow driver by the name of Charles Leclerc quickly took the spotlight.
That’s not a disservice to Fuoco’s talent, as a glimpse at the Italian’s career results show the immense talent that he helms.
After a successful karting career, Fuoco’s first season in cars was victorious, as he claimed the 2013 Formula Renault Alps championship.
Ferrari quickly snapped the Italian up signed Fuoco to their driver academy that year.
In 2014 Fuoco won the Florida Winter Series ahead of a few drivers you may have heard of.
Amongst those Fuoco beat was Lance Stroll, Nicholas Latifi, Tatiana Calderon, and Max Verstappen. Yes, that Max Verstappen.
European Formula 3 was the next destination with Fuoco finishing fifth in the championship, scoring two wins and 10 podiums.
Ferrari signed Fuoco as a development driver for their F1 team in 2015, giving the Italian the opportunity to test with their car.
Alongside his development duties, Fuoco raced in the GP3 series, placing sixth.
The next year it would again be the GP3 series that Fuoco would compete in, this time finishing third with two wins.
2017 would bring a step-up to the Formula 2 championship where the Italian would win a race enroute to eighth in the championship. However, Fuoco’s teammate that year would be Leclerc, who won the championship and was promptly promoted to race in F1.
Another season of Formula 2 in 2018 brought two wins and seventh in the championship, but would be the end of Fuoco’s open-wheel racing career,
For the next few years, Fuoco would serve as Ferrari’s F1 test and development driver, but in 2021 the Italian would return to racing in WEC, running in the GTE Am class.
A race win and fifth in the championship would be enough to convince Ferrari to sign him to the factory team in GTE Pro for 2022.
Another race win and third place in the championship gave Ferrari the faith to recruit Fuoco for the 2023 season to pilot their new Hypercar.
Alessandro Pier Guidi
The oldest driver on the Ferrari Hypercar squad, Alessandro Pier Guidi is most famous for his all-powerful partnership with James Calado that has led to three WEC GTE Pro championships, and two class victories at the 24 hours of Le Mans.
A successful Italian karting career saw Pier Guidi claim four karting titles from 1995-1997.
An obscure open-wheel career, Pier Guidi competed in a sole season of Formula Renault in 2002, entered two rounds for the Italian A1 GP team in 2006, and placed eighth in the 2008 Superleague Formula championship for the Galatasaray S.K. team, scoring three podiums that season.
Fortunately for Pier Guidi, GT Racing was more of his thing and the Italian has been successful all throughout his career, scoring wins and podiums in various regional and international championships, such as the 2005 Italian GT Championship.
Pier Guidi first raced for Ferrari in 2016, competing in the 24 hours of Le Mans in the GTE Pro class, teaming up with James Calado for the first time.
Together, Pier Guidi and Calado have been the most successful GTE Pro pairing in recent years, Ferrari keeping the two together for the 2023 season.
Miguel Molina
A Spanish karting champion in his youth, Miguel Molina climbed up the open-wheel junior ladder but never made it to F1 like many others.
The Spaniard started out competing in the regional Spanish Formula Junior Championship in 2004, before stepping up to Formula Renault Eurocup in 2005.
In 2006 Molina made a move back to Spain to compete in the Spanish Formula Three Championship, winning a race and finishing sixth in the standings.
From 2006-2009 Molina moved to the Formula Renault 3.5 championship, and was a regular frontrunner, winning three years in his time there.
In that championship, Molina would frequently battle with future F1 drivers such as Sebastian Vettel, Giedo van der Garde, Charles Pic, and Jaime Alguersuari.
In 2008 Molina would achieve a best championship finish of 4th.
The Spaniard proved he had the talent to fight with the best and in 2010 Audi signed Molina to their factory DTM team where he would stay until 2016.
Although he never placed above 10th in the championship, Molina earned three wins and seven podiums in his DTM career.
In 2017 Molina moved to compete in WEC and was signed by Ferrari to compete for the GTE Pro team at Le Mans, where he finished fourth on debut.
Since 2018 Molina has been racing full-time for Ferrari, achieving third place in the 2022 GTE Pro championship.
Nicklas Nielsen
The youngest driver in the Ferrari Hypercar lineup, Nicklas Nielsen has shown immense talent over his short career.
Winning 10 karting championships from 2008-2018, the Dane stepped up to the ADAC F4 championship in 2016, finishing on the podium three times and placed eighth in the championship, winning the rookie cup.
In 2017 Nielsen again competed in ADAC F4 winning a race on his way to sixth in the standings.
However, the Dane’s promising open-wheel career was cut short when budget issues halted his progression to the next step, like many others in the racing world.
Instead of letting his career end there Nielsen decided to make the move to GT racing by competing in the 2018 Ferrari Challenge Europe, winning the championship in his rookie year.
That performance got Nielsen noticed, and in 2019 he raced in the European Le Mans Series and won his class championship again in his rookie season.
Nielsen was quickly signed up by Ferrari to become a factory driver that same year and competed in the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans, finishing third in the GTE Am class.
2020 saw more success as Nielsen won the WEC GTE Am championship, again, in his first year. In 2021, Nielsen did it once more and won the WEC GTE Am championship.
It’s no wonder why Ferrari have picked this young Dane for their Hypercar squad, and, in my opinion, Nielsen should be the one to watch in 2023.
