Lilou Wadoux will take her next step in what is becoming a very promising sportscar career this weekend when she climbs into the cockpit of this year’s Le Mans-winning #51 Ferrari 499P Hypercar.
Lilou Wadoux to drive the Le Mans‑winning Ferrari 499P
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She already made history as the first woman to drive one of the new Hypercars when she tested the Toyota GR010 at the WEC rookie test in Bahrain one year ago, but this year she’ll make the step from her Ferrari 488 GTE Evo into the 499P Hypercar.
After signing on as a Ferrari factory driver at the beginning of 2023, she scored her first WEC victory alongside Alessio Rovera and Luis Pérez Companc as they won the LMGT3 Am class at the Spa 8 Hours in April.
The signs point towards Wadoux being lined up to one day take up a full-time seat in the Hypercar class, and Ferrari must be impressed with her performance to reward her with a test. At just 22 years of age, she has time on her side to keep progressing on an upward trajectory.
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Whether there is potential for her to enter the Hypercar fold with Ferrari in 2024 remains to be seen. Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi stand as the reigning winners of the Le Mans 24 Hours, so the assumption would be that the #51 entrant is full for the time being at least, while the #50 car, driven by Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen has also been a consistent performer with three podium finishes so far.
Ferrari’s goal for 2024 will be to close the gap to Toyota and compete for championship glory, and Wadoux could give those in charge something to think about if she can deliver a strong performance in the Bahrain test.
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To have a female driver sitting in a prominent seat at the very peak of endurance racing would be a huge breakthrough for the WEC, too. We of course have the Iron Dames currently sitting second in the LMGTE Am standings, and the female presence in endurance racing is beginning to demand attention.
Before Wadoux climbs into the 499P, she’ll first be focused on bringing home a strong result in the final round of the championship, the Richard Mille AF Corse 488 has struggled for form since the win at Spa. The team currently sits seventh in the LMGTE Am standings.
Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.
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