Alongside the announcement of the Ferrari 499P getting added to iRacing in December, there was a hint of further additions from the Italian marque - but what could they be?
iRacing made headlines with an unexpected addition for its incoming 2025 Season 1 build set to arrive on December 10: As outlined in the latest development update blog, the two-time Le Mans-winning Ferrari 499P is coming to the sim. While the hypercar was the main surprise for many sim racers, there was another line that caught our attention in the post.
Albeit brief, there is mention of additional collaborations with Ferrari. Admittedly, there is not a huge lot to go on here but enough to get us to think about what could fall into that bracket.
Expect more Ferrari content in the future on iRacing judging by that line near the end. Image: iRacing
There are not too many Ferrari models being raced currently, so which cars could the "further collaborations" include? Might it even be an F1 car?
You would think that with F1 being the most prominent motoring discipline in the world, the iRacing community would flock to race these cars. But it has proven not to be the case, at least not across the Class A series racing every hour. The Grand Prix Tour set of series on the other hand - ran exclusively on the same weekends as F1 with 100% distance races - does have decent participation, probably because it is accessible from Licence Class C and has only a few timeslots.
If you want to race F1 in iRacing officials, the current car of choice is the Mercedes W13. Image: iRacing
The most recent F1 car in iRacing - and subsequently the one used in all those aforementioned series - is the Mercedes W13 that was used in the 2022 season. In real life, the car only won a solitary race and was seen as a failure relative to many of its predecessors, with its zero-sidepod concept proving a major contributor to its lack of competitiveness compared to the rival teams.
The year before the W13 took over, the 2021 Mercedes W12 was added to the sim and of course, there is a stark contrast in terms of competitiveness as the W12 won multiple races and the Constructor's Championship. But also due to the 2022 regulations shifting aerodynamic philosophy to be more ground effect-based, the cars are also very different in terms of overall driving and pace.
Comparing the W12 and W13, it is truly night and day levels of discrepancy. Nothing is faster on iRacing around the vast majority of road tracks than the W12, and considering there seems to be nothing on the horizon that could end up being quicker, it might very well never be eclipsed.
The W12 has been the only modern F1 car in iRacing to have been a championship contender. Image: iRacing
When it comes to modern F1 cars that came before the W12, there was the 2015 McLaren-Honda MP4-30 and the 2009 Williams-Toyota FW31, neither of which were exactly taking the F1 worlds by storm when they competed. That may be a major factor in why iRacing fans do not race F1 that much - they are stuck with cars that are not that competitive in comparison to the rest of the grid in real life.
There are some historical Grand Prix cars on the sim, both from Lotus, the 1968 and 1970 championship-winning 49, and also the 79 which won both titles in 1978. However, the stats appear to prove that anything that is not modern, the road side of iRacing seemingly is not interested in.
This car is a complete work of fiction, created in conjunction with Dallara to be a love letter of sorts to both the V10 era of F1 and also the glory days of CART. It should have been immensely popular in theory, though the car has proven anything but as participation for the iR-01 has been poor, to put it lightly.
Despite having a screaming V10, the Dallara iR-01 is not popular with the iRacing playerbase. Image: iRacing
Looking at the iRacing Reports website, the Formula Car licence participation numbers in 2024 Season 3 speaks volumes. The series that the iR-01 is a part of had 390 unique drivers sign up across the season, then the two series with the Lotus 49 and 79 had 147 and 430 respectively. All of these are accessible from Class C, whilst the Class B Super Formula open setup series had 3,432 and then for the Fixed setup series, 4,989.
Compared to that, the Fixed setup Formula A Grand Prix Series had a grand total of 81 signups, and 50 for the open series. Very low, even when you factor in that it is only for drivers who have a Class A licence.
So it seems that road iRacers are not interested in fantasy cars even if they have the V10 engine, and they are also not that into non-modern cars. Which is why it is a hard sell to believe that if any F1 car is getting added, it would be anything aside from one of the current grid's cars, assuming it is competitive. Judging by Ferrari's form at the moment, it may very well end up being.
With that being said, perhaps the iRacing playerbase could reverse the trend if the F2004 got added and they race that consistently in officials.
Looking at Ferrari competition cars that are currently active aside from those already on the service and the F1 car, it comes down to two. The first may be a stretch, and that is the SF90 XX Stradale, a track-only heavily modified version of the SF90 road car. It is part of Ferrari's XX programme within Corse Clienti, where people with enough money can buy the car but only get to drive it at special trackdays, with Ferrari keeping it between sessions.
However, it is not technically a racing car as it is not in any competitive championships and instead, they are only driven in closed-off test sessions. Thankfully though, the final candidate for potential inclusion into iRacing seems to tick all the right boxes.
Another car that can be bought by customers but also actually be raced against others. Ferrari run their own set of spec series in Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific and the UK called the Ferrari Challenge, with both professional and amateur drivers racing this car, the 296 Challenge.
Compared to the GT3, the Challenge car is more powerful but has considerably less downforce and is closer to the road-going 296 GTB in terms of weight, therefore it is not as physical to drive and thus more friendly to beginner drivers. Perhaps that means it lends itself well to the spec Ferrari series on iRacing that is accessible from Class D.
With all the GT3 cars on iRacing, it is perhaps no surprise that the 296 GT3 is often the most-used car due to it being able to be raced in the Ferrari GT3 Challenge. Whilst every other GT3 car can only be raced in officials from Class C, the 296 can be raced a whole level below so quite often, people pick up the 296 and never bother to get any other GT3.
Maybe if the Challenge car gets added, we might be able to see a bit more variety in all of the GT3 series.
First up there is Imola - known officially as Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari - which was added to iRacing all the way back in 2016 Season 3, and also Mugello that arrived in iRacing for 2024 Season 1. Both tracks are owned by Ferrari and have hosted F1 Grands Prix, but there is a third track owned by Ferrari that not only never sees any racing, but no car besides ones affiliated with Ferrari driving on it.
Fiorano is a near-3km private test track that is used to develop Ferrari's road and racecars, of which the current official lap record is held by Michael Schumacher in an F2004, clocking in at 55.999 seconds. The track - which like Suzuka is a figure-of-8 - has been officially included in a range of Ferrari dedicated racing games like Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends and Ferrari Challenge: Trofeo Pirelli.
But there is one series of games that the Fiorano circuit has been in that are not Ferrari exclusive, Project CARS 2 and Project CARS 3. Understandably, you could not race anything on them besides Ferrari cars, but maybe making it part of the Ferrari GT3 Challenge series could make it feasible for inclusion into iRacing.
Although, perhaps putting a huge limitation on what cars can race on it may make it a tough sell with the playerbase, so mark this one down as unlikely.
In conclusion, aside from a modern F1 car, the 296 Challenge and Fiorano, there is very little else that we can imagine would fit with what iRacing have added previously. We have predicted from past iRacing development update blog posts what may get added and gotten some correct.
Therefore, watch this space to see if these further collaborations with Ferrari end up proving these predictions true.
What other possible Ferrari-related content do you think could be in the works with iRacing? Let us know in the comments below and join the discussion in our iRacing forum!
iRacing made headlines with an unexpected addition for its incoming 2025 Season 1 build set to arrive on December 10: As outlined in the latest development update blog, the two-time Le Mans-winning Ferrari 499P is coming to the sim. While the hypercar was the main surprise for many sim racers, there was another line that caught our attention in the post.
Albeit brief, there is mention of additional collaborations with Ferrari. Admittedly, there is not a huge lot to go on here but enough to get us to think about what could fall into that bracket.
Expect more Ferrari content in the future on iRacing judging by that line near the end. Image: iRacing
There are not too many Ferrari models being raced currently, so which cars could the "further collaborations" include? Might it even be an F1 car?
History Of F1 In iRacing
Before the Road licence split ahead of 2024 Season 2, there were two lots of Class A series for road drivers to do: the IMSA Sprint set of series and the Formula A Grand Prix Series, both in Fixed and Open Setup form. But whilst the IMSA series has flourished and consistently had strong participation as of recent, the Formula A series has struggled in comparison.You would think that with F1 being the most prominent motoring discipline in the world, the iRacing community would flock to race these cars. But it has proven not to be the case, at least not across the Class A series racing every hour. The Grand Prix Tour set of series on the other hand - ran exclusively on the same weekends as F1 with 100% distance races - does have decent participation, probably because it is accessible from Licence Class C and has only a few timeslots.
If you want to race F1 in iRacing officials, the current car of choice is the Mercedes W13. Image: iRacing
The most recent F1 car in iRacing - and subsequently the one used in all those aforementioned series - is the Mercedes W13 that was used in the 2022 season. In real life, the car only won a solitary race and was seen as a failure relative to many of its predecessors, with its zero-sidepod concept proving a major contributor to its lack of competitiveness compared to the rival teams.
The year before the W13 took over, the 2021 Mercedes W12 was added to the sim and of course, there is a stark contrast in terms of competitiveness as the W12 won multiple races and the Constructor's Championship. But also due to the 2022 regulations shifting aerodynamic philosophy to be more ground effect-based, the cars are also very different in terms of overall driving and pace.
Comparing the W12 and W13, it is truly night and day levels of discrepancy. Nothing is faster on iRacing around the vast majority of road tracks than the W12, and considering there seems to be nothing on the horizon that could end up being quicker, it might very well never be eclipsed.
The W12 has been the only modern F1 car in iRacing to have been a championship contender. Image: iRacing
When it comes to modern F1 cars that came before the W12, there was the 2015 McLaren-Honda MP4-30 and the 2009 Williams-Toyota FW31, neither of which were exactly taking the F1 worlds by storm when they competed. That may be a major factor in why iRacing fans do not race F1 that much - they are stuck with cars that are not that competitive in comparison to the rest of the grid in real life.
There are some historical Grand Prix cars on the sim, both from Lotus, the 1968 and 1970 championship-winning 49, and also the 79 which won both titles in 1978. However, the stats appear to prove that anything that is not modern, the road side of iRacing seemingly is not interested in.
What iRacers Prioritise
If you have been in the racing community long enough, you have inevitably seen the endless online threads of people bemoaning the turbo hybrid V6 engine sounds in F1 nowadays and eagerly loading up a sim to drive a wailing V10-powered car. However it would appear for the iRacing playerbase, not even a V10 can offset the feeling of breaking immersion, as the Dallara iR-01 has proved.This car is a complete work of fiction, created in conjunction with Dallara to be a love letter of sorts to both the V10 era of F1 and also the glory days of CART. It should have been immensely popular in theory, though the car has proven anything but as participation for the iR-01 has been poor, to put it lightly.
Despite having a screaming V10, the Dallara iR-01 is not popular with the iRacing playerbase. Image: iRacing
Looking at the iRacing Reports website, the Formula Car licence participation numbers in 2024 Season 3 speaks volumes. The series that the iR-01 is a part of had 390 unique drivers sign up across the season, then the two series with the Lotus 49 and 79 had 147 and 430 respectively. All of these are accessible from Class C, whilst the Class B Super Formula open setup series had 3,432 and then for the Fixed setup series, 4,989.
Compared to that, the Fixed setup Formula A Grand Prix Series had a grand total of 81 signups, and 50 for the open series. Very low, even when you factor in that it is only for drivers who have a Class A licence.
So it seems that road iRacers are not interested in fantasy cars even if they have the V10 engine, and they are also not that into non-modern cars. Which is why it is a hard sell to believe that if any F1 car is getting added, it would be anything aside from one of the current grid's cars, assuming it is competitive. Judging by Ferrari's form at the moment, it may very well end up being.
With that being said, perhaps the iRacing playerbase could reverse the trend if the F2004 got added and they race that consistently in officials.
What other cars could there be?
If we go with the assumption that iRacing will never add any historical cars, that really does narrow down the possible Ferrari-related content to just a select few. In terms of Ferrari cars in iRacing, we have the 488 GT3 and GT3 Evo, 488 GTE, 296 GT3, and of course, starting in December, the 499P.Looking at Ferrari competition cars that are currently active aside from those already on the service and the F1 car, it comes down to two. The first may be a stretch, and that is the SF90 XX Stradale, a track-only heavily modified version of the SF90 road car. It is part of Ferrari's XX programme within Corse Clienti, where people with enough money can buy the car but only get to drive it at special trackdays, with Ferrari keeping it between sessions.
However, it is not technically a racing car as it is not in any competitive championships and instead, they are only driven in closed-off test sessions. Thankfully though, the final candidate for potential inclusion into iRacing seems to tick all the right boxes.
Another car that can be bought by customers but also actually be raced against others. Ferrari run their own set of spec series in Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific and the UK called the Ferrari Challenge, with both professional and amateur drivers racing this car, the 296 Challenge.
Compared to the GT3, the Challenge car is more powerful but has considerably less downforce and is closer to the road-going 296 GTB in terms of weight, therefore it is not as physical to drive and thus more friendly to beginner drivers. Perhaps that means it lends itself well to the spec Ferrari series on iRacing that is accessible from Class D.
With all the GT3 cars on iRacing, it is perhaps no surprise that the 296 GT3 is often the most-used car due to it being able to be raced in the Ferrari GT3 Challenge. Whilst every other GT3 car can only be raced in officials from Class C, the 296 can be raced a whole level below so quite often, people pick up the 296 and never bother to get any other GT3.
Maybe if the Challenge car gets added, we might be able to see a bit more variety in all of the GT3 series.
What about a track?
This one may be quite far-fetched, but do not completely count it out. Ferrari have more than just cars at their disposal: There are also the racetracks that they own, two of which are already in iRacing.First up there is Imola - known officially as Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari - which was added to iRacing all the way back in 2016 Season 3, and also Mugello that arrived in iRacing for 2024 Season 1. Both tracks are owned by Ferrari and have hosted F1 Grands Prix, but there is a third track owned by Ferrari that not only never sees any racing, but no car besides ones affiliated with Ferrari driving on it.
Fiorano is a near-3km private test track that is used to develop Ferrari's road and racecars, of which the current official lap record is held by Michael Schumacher in an F2004, clocking in at 55.999 seconds. The track - which like Suzuka is a figure-of-8 - has been officially included in a range of Ferrari dedicated racing games like Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends and Ferrari Challenge: Trofeo Pirelli.
But there is one series of games that the Fiorano circuit has been in that are not Ferrari exclusive, Project CARS 2 and Project CARS 3. Understandably, you could not race anything on them besides Ferrari cars, but maybe making it part of the Ferrari GT3 Challenge series could make it feasible for inclusion into iRacing.
Although, perhaps putting a huge limitation on what cars can race on it may make it a tough sell with the playerbase, so mark this one down as unlikely.
In conclusion, aside from a modern F1 car, the 296 Challenge and Fiorano, there is very little else that we can imagine would fit with what iRacing have added previously. We have predicted from past iRacing development update blog posts what may get added and gotten some correct.
Therefore, watch this space to see if these further collaborations with Ferrari end up proving these predictions true.
What other possible Ferrari-related content do you think could be in the works with iRacing? Let us know in the comments below and join the discussion in our iRacing forum!
