499P is the identify of the brand new Le Mans Hypercar with which Ferrari will sort out the FIA WEC within the prime class from 2023, a reputation evoking the historical past of the Prancing Horse producer. It marks the return of Ferrari to Les Mans XX years after its final race. Contemplating the P within the identify stands for prototype, most of the automobile’s components – which underwent numerous hours of wind gallery testing – are more likely to have been 3D printed. However one we all know for positive: the steering wheel was multi-iteratively prototyped utilizing AM. Given Ferrari’s well-known secrecy on its us of AM, we’ll take it.

The four-wheel drive prototype complies with the technical rules and necessities of the hybrid-engined Le Mans Hypercar class, delivering a most energy of 500 kW to the wheels and with a minimal weight of a minimum of 1,030 kilos. In defining the 499P, the corporate has drawn on the huge assets of technical, skilled and human excellence that epitomize the Maranello marque, entrusting the administration to Attività Sportive GT, below the route of Antonello Coletta and the technical supervision of Ferdinando Cannizzo, head of the division accountable for engineering and improvement of Sports activities and GT racing vehicles.

However the steering wheel is without doubt one of the most complicated components in your complete automobile. It has over 500 elements and requires intensive improvement. Bénédicte Prioul, Car Management Engineer, Ferrari Competizioni GT, defined your complete course of in this video on the Ferrari 499P official web site. “The story of the steering wheel for the 499P began from the wheel from the 296 GT3,” Prioul defined. “And we needed to reimagine all the things, ranging from the 3D design to the structure and the capabilities and electronics behind all of it. After we transfer to the 499P we needed to combine the sprint within the steering wheel […] growing a steering wheel like this takes between a yr and a yr and a half. And the event is at all times ongoing.”

Constructed on an all-new carbon-fiber monocoque chassis, the Ferrari 499P options options that symbolize the slicing fringe of motorsport expertise. The geometry of the double wishbone, push-rod-type suspension leads to excellent qualities of damping stiffness, the advantages of that are evident at each most velocity in addition to in cornering.