Why Doesn’t Ferrari Race At 24 Hours of Le Mans?

Ferrari are one of the most iconic automotive brands on the globe, yet for the past four decades they have been absent from the Prototype categories of one of motorsport’s greatest events.

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Ferrari have a long and rich racing history at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Though not always factory assisted, a Ferrari entry has been in 79 of the 84 Le Mans races that have been run – winning nine of them.

Yet from 1965 to the present day, the tally of outright wins stands at nought.

The GT Ferraris have been consistently successful over the years, winning a number of Le Mans in their class and earning two podiums in 2016, but Ferrari’s prototypes have been anything but – largely due to the fact that a Ferrari of its calibre hasn’t existed since 1973.

The last Scuderia Ferrari backed car to win overall at Le Mans was the beautiful 275 P in 1964, with a customer owned 250 LM winning the following year (this particular car was sold for 10 million dollars in 2015).

Though a number of competitive prototypes followed the 275 P and 250 LM – such as the 275 GTB/C, the 330 P4, and the 312 PB – Le Mans glory couldn’t be recaptured.

As such, Enzo Ferrari made the decision to leave top level sportscar racing at the end of 1973 so that the Italian car manufacturer could focus solely on Formula One. And though Ferrari’s founding father is no longer with us, Ferrari have remained true to his wishes.

However, as loyal as the company may be, it hasn’t stopped rumours from surfacing every now and then of Ferrari mounting another effort in prototype racing.

In 2014, Fernando Alonso made headlines when he visited Le Mans as official starter.

When this was coupled with past comments about his desire to race at Le Mans, and then Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo voicing his displeasure with Formula One, it was inevitable that talk of a Ferrari LMP1 project began.

But the story went cold after Alonso’s and Montezemolo’s departure from Ferrari at the end of 2014.

Then reports of a Ferrari return resurfaced last week when Ferrari’s North America PR rep Efrain Olivares tweeted:

But it was all just a joke, as his very next tweet indicated:

Even so, it does beg the question, why doesn’t Ferrari have a prototype program?

Though it’s true that the Italian marque has seen more success in open-wheel motorsports, it’s surprising that the call of Le Mans glory hasn’t prompted Ferrari to enter the WEC’s LMP1 category.

Ferrari is the world’s most marketable and powerful brand, and with that title comes a considerable amount of wealth. Finding the necessary funds to finance a Le Mans prototype project wouldn’t appear to be an issue. As such, a lack of money can’t be blamed for Ferrari’s absence in LMP1.

Its desire to uphold its reputation, on the other hand, might.

Ferrari is intrinsically linked with Formula One (pictured above), so much so that when the red cars aren’t on the top step, everyone is talking about it. Even when they’re second or third place, in the minds of many – including the Scuderia themselves – anything short of a win is a loss.

It’s been close to eight years since Ferrari claimed their last F1 championship, and this period of time will undoubtedly be looked upon as a dark hour in the team’s history.

Couple this with potential Le Mans losses, and Ferrari’s reputation for being a ‘winning’ team might start to wane.

Enzo Ferrari decided to leave sportscar racing at a time when Ferrari’s Formula One team were in a similar slump.

Perhaps we should accept that Ferrari’s return to prototype racing seems unlikely until the Scuderia are truly back on form – when their reputation, and not their wallets, can afford to take a beating.