FERRARI’S 499P HEADS TO AUSTIN FOR THE FIFTH ROUND OF THE 2026 FIA WEC

Ferrari’s 499P returns to competition at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, for the fifth round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship. The Lone Star Le Mans takes place from 4 to 6 September, with the six-hour race scheduled to begin at 1pm local time on Sunday 6 September.

The race comes after a lengthy summer interval following the 6 Hours of São Paulo. Ferrari’s official AF Corse operation arrives in Texas with momentum from Interlagos, where the No. 51 Ferrari 499P shared by Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi finished second. The result added another podium to Ferrari’s 2026 campaign and maintained the reigning World Drivers’ Champions’ pursuit of further points.

Ferrari has already demonstrated a strong record at the American circuit. The Circuit of the Americas, commonly known as COTA, measures 5.513 kilometres and incorporates 20 corners — nine right-handers and 11 left-handers — with substantial changes in elevation. Its combination of fast sections, technical corners and varying loads places considerable demands on both car and driver.

This will be the third consecutive year that the FIA WEC has visited COTA. Ferrari secured pole position at each of the previous two editions: the No. 51 car in 2024 and the No. 83 AF Corse entry in 2025. The No. 83 Ferrari also took victory in 2024, while the No. 50 crew of Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen finished second in 2025.

Those results were achieved in markedly different conditions. The 2024 race was held in dry, hot weather, while the following year’s event was heavily affected by rain. More than two-thirds of the 2025 race was run in torrential conditions, making the contrasting results particularly relevant to the Ferrari 499P’s adaptability across changing circumstances.

The Austin event therefore carries a certain familiarity for Ferrari, but endurance racing rarely rewards simple repetition. The 499P must contend with changing track conditions, tyre management, traffic and the demands of maintaining performance over six hours. In a championship where small gains can accumulate into significant points, consistency remains as important as outright pace.

Ferrari enters the American round third in the 2026 World Manufacturers’ Championship with 88 points, according to the team’s pre-race standings. The manufacturer is 44 points behind the championship leaders. In the drivers’ classification, Pier Guidi, Calado and Giovinazzi occupy fourth place with 57 points, while Yifei Ye, Philip Hanson and Robert Kubica are ninth on 31 points. Fuoco, Molina and Nielsen are 11th with 29 points.

The winning crew in Austin will receive 25 championship points, giving the six-hour race considerable importance as the season moves towards its closing rounds. The FIA WEC calendar confirms that Austin will be followed by the 6 Hours of Fuji on 27 September, before the championship concludes with six-hour races in Barcelona on 18 October and Monza on 8 November.

The final portion of the calendar has changed from the schedule initially announced for 2026. Barcelona and Monza will host the last two rounds, replacing the previously planned events in Qatar and Bahrain. The alteration gives the championship a European conclusion, with two circuits that carry considerable significance within endurance and motor racing history.

Ferrari’s relationship with endurance racing stretches well beyond the present Hypercar era. The marque’s modern history began in Maranello in 1947, when Enzo Ferrari started the 125 S, the first car to bear his name. The car went on to record six victories during its debut season, establishing the competitive foundations on which Ferrari’s subsequent racing history was built.

Enzo Ferrari had already established Scuderia Ferrari in Modena in 1929, initially as a racing team competing with Alfa Romeo cars. His company moved its headquarters to Maranello in 1943, where Ferrari remains based today. The marque’s heritage consequently developed through a close relationship between road-car engineering and competition, with racing serving as a central part of its identity from the beginning.

Endurance racing became an important part of that history. Ferrari has achieved victories at major events including the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 24 Hours of Daytona, while the marque’s return to the top class of the FIA World Endurance Championship with the 499P has added a contemporary chapter to that record. The 499P won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in both 2023 and 2024, underlining the significance of Ferrari’s current Hypercar programme.

One of the most remarkable recent precedents came on 1 September 2024. Ferrari recorded victories in two different World Championship series on the same day: Charles Leclerc won the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix for Scuderia Ferrari HP, while the No. 83 499P driven by Yifei Ye, Robert Kubica and Robert Shwartzman won the FIA WEC round at COTA. It marked the first occasion since Ferrari’s foundation in 1947 that the company had achieved World Championship victories in two separate series on the same day.

The 2026 Austin weekend begins on Friday 4 September with two 90-minute free practice sessions at 11.30am and 4pm local time. Saturday brings the third practice session from 11am to noon, followed by Hypercar qualifying at 3.40pm and Hyperpole at 4pm. The six-hour race begins at 1pm on Sunday. The official FIA WEC schedule confirms the timings and the event’s 5.513-kilometre circuit configuration.

For Ferrari, the return to Austin is therefore about more than revisiting a circuit where the 499P has already performed strongly. It is another test in a championship defined by endurance, precision and accumulated points. With the standings still open and three rounds remaining after Texas, every stint, pit stop and strategic decision will carry its own weight.

COTA has already provided Ferrari with contrasting weather, pole positions and a memorable victory. The next chapter will be written over six hours in September — another demanding encounter between Maranello engineering and one of the world’s most varied modern circuits.