Kubica set to drive Ferrari hypercar in WEC 2024 after joining AF Corse
Robert Kubica has joined AF Corse for what is set to be an assault on the World Endurance Championship at the wheel of a third Ferrari 499P Le Mans Hypercar.
AF Corse, which runs the factory 499Ps, has announced that the Formula 1 race winner and reigning LMP2 WEC champion has joined its roster for 2024 without unveiling his programme with the team.
It appears certain that he will be part of the line-up in an extra 499P run under the banner of a customer for which Ferrari sportscar boss Antonello Coletta outlined plans earlier this month at the Bahrain WEC finale.
WEC rules dictate that there can only be two full-season factory entries by each manufacturer competing in the Hypercar division and that additional cars can only score points in the FIA World Cup aimed at independent teams.
Coletta stressed in Bahrain that any additional Hypercar entry would most likely be run by AF on a customer basis.
The statement from AF explained that further information about the new relationship between the team and Kubica will be revealed in the “coming weeks”.
That is likely to coincide with the publication of the line-up of the 2024 WEC grid following the closing date for entries on Monday.
AF boss Amato Ferrari described it as “a great honour to welcome a driver of Robert’s calibre to our family”.
He said that Kubica’s “talent and great professionalism will bring new added value to our team”.
Photo by: Ferrari
#51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi
Kubica added: “I’m happy that my path and the path of AF Corse will be the same next season.
“AF is one of the most successful teams ever in motorsport: I’m sure we’ll do a great job together.
"What’s more, I’m back in an Italian team, which is no small matter.”
Kubica has made no secret of his desire to graduate to the Hypercar ranks after racing in LMP2 for the past three seasons.
It is known that he had been in talks with the Jota team about racing one of its Porsche 963 LMDhs in an expanded two-car assault on the WEC.
Kubica won the European Le Mans Series in his maiden season of P2 in 2021 driving for the WRT team and came within a lap of triumphing in class at the Le Mans 24 Hours in the ORECA-Gibson 07 he shared with Louis Deletraz and Yifei Ye.
The Polish driver subsequently switched to the Prema team for a move into a full WEC programme in 2022.
A swap back to WRT for this year yielded the P2 WEC title alongside Deletraz and Rui Andrade.
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