Ferrari celebrated its victory at the 2023 Le Mans 24 Hours with a parade through Maranello which is the manufacturer’s hometown.
The team’s two 499P hypercars were driven from their facility around the town, where large crowds had gathered to celebrate their victory.
Alessandro Pier Guidi, Antonio Giovinazzi, and James Calado, who were driving the race-winning number 51 car, led the parade out of the factory gates. The car was still covered in dirt and dust from the day-long race two weeks before. They were joined by Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, and Nicklas Nielsen, who won the race’s pole position and came in fifth.
Ferrari won the race outright for the first time since 1965, holding off the Toyota GR010 piloted by Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, and Ryo Hirakawa by 81 seconds.
Ferrari Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc claimed to have watched Ferrari’s progress throughout the night while at the race and that he barely slept.
“I think it’s an incredible race and of course I would love to participate one day,” he said. “The whole event is crazy… By night, the first six hours were crazy with the weather – rain [then] no rain.
“So it was very, very exciting. The last time I went to see a race as a spectator was a very, very long time ago.”
Leclerc is eager to compete in the event someday, but even if this year’s race did not directly conflict with a grand prix, he claimed it would be challenging to fit it in with his F1 obligations.
“With more and more races in F1 it starts to become more and more difficult, I think, to fit another race in another category where you need to do testing, et cetera,” Leclerc said.
“If the calendar lets me do it, why not? But at the moment, it looks difficult.”
“The physical demands of competing at Le Mans should also not be underestimated… Obviously Le Mans is a very tiring race.
“When I saw the drivers at the end of the race, they were really, really tired, not much sleep and a lot of driving.
“So it’s nice, I would love to do it one day, but you also need to think about the whole season and F1 is obviously the main priority for now.”
But he acknowledged that the event is very popular.
“The excitement around the race itself was incredible to see,” said Leclerc. “I’ve never seen so many people on a race track before.
“It’s a very long track and wherever you go you see lots and lots of people, and very passionate about racing.
“You know that it’s not the first race they are watching: they’ve been watching for years. It’s good to see so many passionate people at the same event.”
Ferrari’s home race at Monza, Italy, on July 9th, is the next round of the World Endurance Championship.
