Ferrari's 499Ps open Fuji WEC weekend third-fastest in first practice
Ferrari's number 50 AF Corse crew of Fuoco, Molina and Nielsen was third fastest in Free Practice 1 at Fuji, then slipped to 11th in the afternoon as the 2026 FIA WEC enters its third-to-last round.
- 103 laps
- 1'29"989
- +0.685
- 4.563 km
What Happened
The first two free practice sessions took place on 25 September at Fuji International Speedway, opening the race weekend for the third-to-last round of the 2026 FIA WEC. Ferrari recorded the third-fastest time in the morning with the number 50 Ferrari – AF Corse crew of Fuoco-Molina-Nielsen, and that same trio finished 11th in the afternoon, the highest-placed of the Ferrari teams. Both 90-minute sessions were run on a dry track.
- No. 50 Ferrari – AF Corse (Fuoco-Molina-Nielsen): 48 laps, best 1'30"203, third place, +0.509 behind the leaders.
- No. 51 Ferrari – AF Corse (Pier Guidi-Calado-Giovinazzi): 51 laps, best 1'30"689, tenth place.
- No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari in yellow livery (Ye-Hanson-Kubica): 45 laps, best 1'30"680, ninth place.
- 3rd, 1'30"203, +0.509 from the leaders
- 11th, 1'29"989, +0.685 from the leader
In the afternoon the cars were back in action on a dry track under cloudy skies, with cooler temperatures of around 21°C air and 31°C track. The Ferrari – AF Corse cars completed a total of 103 laps, while the AF Corse number 83 car completed 52. The Ferraris recorded the 11th, 12th and 16th fastest times with the 50, 83 and 51 driver combinations, and the quickest of them, a 1'29"989, was set by Fuoco-Molina-Nielsen at +0.685 from the leader. The gap for Ye-Hanson-Kubica was +0.732, and for Pier Guidi-Calado-Giovinazzi +1.030.
103laps
The AF Corse number 83 car added another 52 laps in the same 90-minute session.
Free Practice 1 (90 minutes, from 10.15 a.m.) and Free Practice 2 held at Fuji International Speedway.
Free Practice 3 from 9.30 a.m. to 10.30 a.m., Hypercar class qualifying at 2.40 p.m. and Hyperpole at 3.00 p.m.
The 6 Hours of Fuji starts at 11 a.m. (all times local).
Previously from Ferrari N.V.
Ferrari's most recent item on its endurance squad, published on 24 September, was the second episode of Mastering Variables, a YouTube series about how the Ferrari AF Corse team turns unpredictability into performance. That episode focused on the team's mechanics.
Background drawn from MotorClaw's earlier coverage of Ferrari N.V.'s official releases.
Why this matters
Fuji is the third-to-last round of the 2026 FIA WEC, so these two 90-minute sessions are the only track running before qualifying and Hyperpole decide the grid for Sunday's six-hour race. The results give the Ferrari – AF Corse crews and their drivers the first read on their 499Ps' pace on the 4.563-kilometre Japanese circuit.
Terms in This Story
- FIA WEC
- The FIA World Endurance Championship, the global sports-car racing series whose rounds include the 6 Hours of Fuji.
- Hypercar
- The top class of the FIA World Endurance Championship, for which prototype cars such as the 499P are built.
- Hyperpole
- A qualifying shootout held after the main qualifying session to decide the front of the grid.
- Free practice
- Timed, non-competitive track sessions before qualifying, used by teams to set up cars and gather data.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.