Ferrari LMH surpasses 10,000km in testing as launch date set

The Scuderia has announced that it will take the covers off its still-unnamed hybrid-powered LMH challenger on October 30, the final day of the traditional end-of-season Ferrari World Finals event at Imola.

Ferrari began testing the new machine at its Fiorano in July, and since then it has visited Mugello, Barcelona, Imola and most recently Portimao as it prepares for the car's race debut in the WEC season opener at Sebring in March.

Current Ferrari WEC GTE Pro racers Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina have all been part of the development programme, along with fellow factory GT drivers Davide Rigon, Daniel Serra, Alessio Rovera and Nicklas Nielsen.

Ferrari sportscar racing boss Antonello Coletta told Motorsport.com's Italian edition: "We have surpassed 10,000km, which I consider an important milestone.

"The time we have had is not insignificant, but we will have to do a lot more because there is the matter of accumulating experience and developing in parallel using what we have learned in the field.

"Having said that, we didn't set ourselves a mileage target to complete the work on the car; the more the better."

On Ferrari's testing plans between now and the car's race debut at Sebring: "As many as it will be possible to organise. We took to the track in the first few days of July, while others have been running for over a year.

"Every 10 days, or so, we are on the track and we will do it as long as we can before going to Sebring. It's essential to run every day because you really discover so many new things, so you have to make the changes and then go back to the track to check them.

"The car is very complicated because we have chosen the Hypercar [LMH rules], while the LMDh regulations call for a slightly simpler car. This choice brings with it some non-trivial complications to solve. That's why I say that the more we drive, the better."

Coletta said that the driver line-up for Ferrari's first WEC season in the top flight will not be confirmed upon the car's official launch.

"We want to take a little more time, continuing testing at a very fast pace ahead of the debut at Sebring, so the choice of drivers will probably be made at the end of the year," he clarified.