AF confirmed on Friday that the pair will be part of the already-announced Robert Kubica within the automotive it is going to area alongside the 2 full-factory 499Ps this yr.
The announcement follows the information in December that Ye had joined Ferrari after leaving Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific, the place he was a so-called chosen driver, and subsequent hypothesis that he and Method 1 reserve driver Shwartzman would race the additional AF entry within the WEC’s Hypercar class.
Shwartzman is transferring into the prototype ranks after racing a factory-backed Ferrari 296 GT3 for AF in final yr’s GT World Problem Europe Endurance Cup and an outing in one of many common 499Ps on the official WEC rookie take a look at in Bahrain in November.
The 24-year-old acknowledged that he and his team-mates had been “feeling assured and impressive” about their 2024 WEC marketing campaign.
“I’m assured that the season will probably be optimistic and am actually motivated to get good outcomes, with the ambition to win the world title,” he mentioned.
“There’s a race that I’m particularly trying ahead to, nonetheless, and that’s the Le Mans 24 Hours: it’s a race that has all the time been in my desires and I’ll do every thing doable to attempt to win.”
Picture by: Ferrari
#51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi
Ye will stay within the Hypercar class after racing the Jota staff’s Porsche 963 LMDh in ’23.
The Chinese language driver described the possibility to race the 499P for AF as “really a privilege”.
“AF Corse has achieved monumental success throughout totally different championships in endurance racing and I’m super-excited to start out my function of official Ferrari driver with them within the WEC and at Le Mans.
“Final yr the competitors was already extraordinarily stiff and this yr, with 19 hypercars, it is going to be much more fierce however, trying on the efficiency of the staff in 2023, I’ve little question that we are going to be aggressive.
“Along with my two new team-mates, we’ve got expertise, pace and youth. I can’t wait to get my first style of the 499P and begin the preparation for the brand new season that’s coming in a short time.”
Ye is renewing a partnership with Kubica, with whom he received the 2021 European Le Mans Sequence on the wheel of a WRT-run ORECA-Gibson 07 LMP2.
AF’s buyer entry will compete for factors within the FIA Endurance Trophy for Hypercar Groups relatively than the WEC producers’ classification during which the factories are solely allowed to area a most of two vehicles.
The announcement of Shwartzman implies that each Ferrari F1 reserves will probably be racing within the WEC in 2024: Antonio Giovinazzi, who additionally has a take a look at and reserve function, will once more racing in one of many manufacturing facility 499Ps.
