Ferrari Tests the 499P at Monza, Which Will Race in 2027

Ferrari took a 499P with 2027 specifications to the Monza circuit and had its four official drivers rotate throughout the day. Antonio Fuoco, Antonio Giovinazzi, Alessandro Pier Guidi and Miguel Molina ran in a camouflaged prototype that previews the technical and aerodynamic solutions that will define the Hypercar's evolution.

Photo By Ferrari

The Italians had already communicated at the 24 Hours of Le Mans that 2027 would bring a thoroughly revised prototype, built from several accumulated performance jokers. Since the 499P debuted at Sebring in 2023, only one joker had been used, in 2024, to modify the brake ducts. The changes that arrived the following year were introduced without consuming jokers, forced by the re‑homologation that came with the move to the Windshear wind tunnel. The factory chose not to touch what was working and saved the tools for later.

That restraint was backed by what was achieved in 2025, when the 499P closed the year with the drivers' and constructors' titles, scored its third consecutive Le Mans victory and opened the calendar with four straight wins, including a first, second and third in Qatar. Changing a prototype that worked on such different tracks was risky, because any gain could be undone by a Balance of Performance adjustment. The Maranello team approached 2026 with the same base and without touching the jokers, in a context where much of the grid did introduce changes. Toyota thoroughly updated its GR010, BMW corrected the inconsistencies of the M Hybrid V8, Cadillac fine‑tuned the V‑Series.R's efficiency in long stints, and Alpine almost completely reconfigured the aerodynamics of the A424. At the midway point of the season, the GR010 has a 44‑point lead over the 499P in the constructors' standings, a gap that puts into perspective the urgency of the Monza test as a first step toward releasing the tools kept idle for two years.

Photo By Ferrari

Monza was added to the 2026 calendar to fill the slot left by Bahrain as the season finale, and that change of venue gave the test a double value. It is a circuit of long straights, low downforce and demanding braking, conditions that make it a useful testbed both for preparing the November race and for kicking off the development of the 2027 prototype.

Photo By Ferrari