Batmobile in Red: Ferrari reveals 499P Le Mans Hypercar

No, the Ferrari you're seeing right now will not roam Gotham City at night. Instead, it's headed to the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The Prancing Horse is marking its return to the pinnacle of sportscar racing with its all-new 499P Hypercar. Following the naming tradition of classic Ferrari sportscars, 499 denotes the capacity in cubic centimeters of one cylinder of the car's V6 power unit, while the “P” stands for prototype.

Ferrari revealed the 499P in the Finali Mondiali wearing a livery that pays tribute to its last factory prototype sportscar – the 312PB. With the new car built under LMH rules, Ferrari was free to develop its own chassis, bodywork, and optional hybrid powertrain, as opposed to Porsche and BMW which are using spec-chassis and hybrid architecture in the LMDh class.

The 499P is powered by a 3.0-liter, twin-turbo V6 derived from the 296 GT3, but has been heavily reworked to become a load-bearing member of the 499P's chassis. An electric motor has been placed in the front axle and is powered by a 900-volt battery pack charged by Ferrari's F1-derived Energy Recovery System (ERS). In total, the 499P's power unit produces a combined system output of 670 horsepower, meeting the Hypercar class Balance of Performance (BoP). The power unit is then paired to an Xtrac seven-speed sequential transmission.

Ferrari will run two 499Ps under the AF Corse banner in 2023. While the driver lineup has not been announced yet, the Italian manufacturer has chosen the numbers 50 and 51. Number 50 marks the years since Ferrari last participated as a factory team in sports car racing, while the number 51 is a tribute to the AF Corse GTE Pro racecar that won four drivers' titles since the World Endurance Championship (WEC) was reborn in 2012.

The Ferrari 499P Hypercar's homologation is expected to be completed before the year ends, just in time before it makes its racing debut at the 1000 Miles of Sebring in March 2023.