Ferrari to celebrate Le Mans 24 Hours victory at Monza GP

For its home race, the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Ferrari will be sporting a special livery on its two cars, as well as on Charles Leclerc’s and Carlos Sainz’s helmets and race suits. But more than that it will be a weekend of special guests, trophies and cars. It will be an opportunity for Ferrari fans to celebrate the company’s racing DNA and its unique relationship with the Monza circuit as well as its historic overall win in the Le Mans 24 Hours back in June, with the 499P Hypercar driven by James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi and Alessandro Pier Guidi. That exceptional win, celebrated against the backdrop of Formula 1, will underline how Ferrari is one entity, involved in so many fields both on track and off it. At its home race the Scuderia will also pay tribute to the centenary of the Aeronautica Militare.

Last year in Monza, the historic company colour of yellow featured strongly in celebrations for the marque’s 75th anniversary and this year it’s back. The SF-23 livery will pay tribute to that of the 499P which won the world’s most famous endurance race, in the form of the yellow “V” stripes that run down the side of the Hypercar, featuring on the nose and engine cover. The two cars already have the Rosso Le Mans red colour in common, with a matt finish on the Formula 1 car and gloss on the endurance racer. The race numbers – 16 and 55 – will also be yellow. Charles and Carlos will have race suits specially designed for this race, featuring the Maranello marque’s colours of yellow, red and black and the “long F” logo which also features on the rear wing. Special helmets too: mainly yellow for the Monegasque and black for the Spaniard.

The walls of the walkway leading from the paddock to the pit garage, will feature illustrations of the Scuderia’s milestones in Formula 1 as well as in other categories where owners have raced their cars. After all, the Scuderia was established in 1929 with the aim of helping gentlemen drivers to race at a high level, something which is still true today, thanks to the Competizioni GT department which supports competitors in GT races, as well as the Corse Clienti department which has run the Ferrari Challenge, the Prancing Horse’s one-make series, since 1993 and the exclusive XX Programmes and the F1 Clienti department.

Among the Ferrari guests at the Monza circuit will be two of the three heroes of Le Mans, Antonio Giovinazzi and Alessandro Pier Guidi. The crew of the Ferrari-AF Corse team’s number 51 499P which won the Le Mans 24 Hours 58 years on from the last win back in 1965 and half a century after the company’s last assault on the race, will bring with them the winner’s trophy. They will be joined by Antonio Fuoco, who in the number 50 car took pole position and set the fastest race lap at Le Mans and finished second less than two months ago in the Monza 6 Hours. 

Three very different examples of Ferrari cars, but all sharing racing DNA, will be on display in the Fan Zone behind the paddock. Naturally, the Le Mans-winning 499P will be there, as well as a 296 GT3, Maranello’s new weapon for GT racing, which has already made its mark back in the spring, taking the overall win in the Nurburgring 24 Hours on the legendary Nordschleife and the F2003-GA that won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in 2003. These three cars, sum up how multi-faceted and unique Ferrari is as a company and as a standard-bearer for Italy around the world. Also in this area, a celebration of the strong links between the Maranello marque and the Monza circuit, with a panel given over to everyone who has ever won at the wheel of a Ferrari at Monza. There are almost 200 names, from the very first, Bruno Sterzi, who won the 1949 Coppa Inter Europa at the wheel of a 166 S, right up to the present day with Leonardo De Col and Thomas Biagi who, back in June was the Italian GT Championship in a 488 Challenge, as well Charles Leclerc’s unforgettable win here in 2019 in the SF90 F1. Another iconic Ferrari, the F1-87/**C with which Gerhard Berger and Michele Alboreto won here at Monza will be on show in the piazza Trento e Trieste in Monza, as part of the “Fuori GP” (“away from the track”) initiative.

As part of these Italian Grand Prix initiatives, the marque’s flagship store in Milan will celebrate Ferrari’s racing DNA with an exhibition of race kits from some of the team’s most famous racing drivers, such as Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa, Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel, as well as current drivers, Charles Leclerc e Carlos Sainz. The driver suits are also the centre of attention in Ferrari’s world of fashion, where this iconic piece of a driver’s kit has been reinterpreted, making it a must-have item in the shape of the Ferrari Suit, also part of this special display. Taking its cues from the automotive world and a staple of the Maranello racing driver’s wardrobe, this garment shows a clear path of evolution and legitimisation which, starting from the AI22 collection shows a different interpretation of this item from season to season. The display of driver race suits will be on show throughout the Monza race week, after which it will be moved to the Ferrari store in Maranello.