A clean sweep of the 2017 World Endurance Championship has seen Ferrari keep the exact same teams and line up for 2018 in the two AF Corse branded cars.
The factory cars will see the pairings of James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi remain in the #51 whilst Sam Bird and Davide Rigon fill the two seats in the sister #71.
Ferrari are pretty pleased with their line-up last year and saw no reason to change it when it has been competing so strongly, as a Ferrari spokesman said. “James and Alessandro obviously worked well in their first year together. They have a great relationship, and we can say the same about Sam and Davide.”
Spanish driver Miguel Molina is in line to return to the AF Corse team for this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans to, once again, join Bird and Rigon in the #71 cockpit. The Ferrari spokesman confirmed that it was highly likely that Toni Vilander would be the driver to make the #51 a three-man team at the prestigious event. Vilander does race for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Risi Competizione Ferrari, but it does not seem likely that car will be attending the 2018 Le Mans. This means the long-time Ferrari driver would be available to fill the seat alongside Calado and Pier Guidi.
Amid the announcements, no comment was made on Giancarlo Fisichella‘s commitments with Ferrari in the 2018 season. The Italian has not been said to be taking part in Risi’s down-scaled racing programme; it appears the Risi Competizione car will only be racing in the North American Endurance Cup which consists of the four long-distance races in the IMSA championship.
The racing horizon does not look good for Fisichella in a Ferrari as the Russian entrant, Kaspersky Motorsport, that he drove for last season in Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup will not be on track in the championship this season.
