From Porsche to Ferrari: how Phil Hanson learned to tame the 499P in WEC (interview)

Having recently arrived aboard the 499P, Britain's Phil Hanson gives us an insight into his apprenticeship. (since the interview below, the Ferraris have completed a hat-trick and Hanson's car will start 2nd).

He is the only pilot to discover theFerrari hypercar this season. This year, Philip Hanson joined the crew of the No. 83, which is entrusted to the AF Corse team in the World Endurance Championship (WEC). This weekend at the Spa 6 Hours, the Briton will be sharing his yellow-liveried 499P with Robert Kubica and Yifei Ye.

Last year, Hanson drove one of Jota's Porsche 963s. His first kilometers in a Ferrari 499P were covered in November, during rookie tests at the Sakhir circuit (Bahrain). "I didn't drive that much during that session, but it was my introduction to the car and its systems," confides Philip Hanson. The first long-term test session took place in January at Losail (Qatar).

The learning process continued in Qatar, before the first round of the championship, at the pre-season Prologue: "I needed a few miles behind the wheel to familiarize myself with the car. My aim was to manoeuvre the on-board systems according to the conditions, without needing to call on my engineer".

On his first official outing, the 1812km Qatar race, the new AF Corse driver celebrated a fine 2nd place. The Briton also set the second fastest time of all Ferrari drivers, eight hundredths off the mark set by 499P regular Antonio Fuoco.

In the second race, at Imola, the Briton started for the first time in number 83. With calm and maturity, he kept the Ferrari in second place for the first few hours of the race.

The Hanson-Kubica-Ye trio finished in 4th place. "At Imola, I also learned how the car behaved on the vibrators.

This season, it's also a question of finding the right carburation with his team-mates. Between the calm Yifei Ye and the experienced Robert Kubica, Phil Hanson has found his place: "I was surprised to see how easy it was to work with them. All three of us are driven by the same goal of winning," he says.

In 2017, Phil Hanson took the start of his first 24 Hours of Le Mans before he had even come of age. Three years later, he won the LMP2 class. I'm a bit atypical," he says, "in the sense that I started very young and gained a lot of experience for my age.

Phil Hanson

CV Express
Born July 5, 1999
LMP2 24 Hours of Le Mans winner (2020)
WEC LMP2 Trophy winner (2019-2020)
2024: 18th in WEC (Porsche/Jota)
Currently 2nd in the championship (Ferrari/AF Corse)

But at the age of 25, the Briton still needs to build up his data base against the top names in the championship.

"I'm up against some very experienced drivers. And you can't speed up experience. It just accumulates. On the track, you come across different scenarios that accumulate in your memory. When you come across them again five years later, you become better at reading a situation.

In fact, is it possible to compare the driving of an LMDh Porsche 963 and a Ferrari 499P designed as an LMH? It's pretty similar in terms of cockpit occupancy," comments Philip Hanson. The difference is mainly in the ease of use from one brand to another. Some are harder than others. And I think the Ferrari is very easy.