A year on from COTA victory, Ye returns eyeing a Hypercar championship with AF Corse

AF Corse Hypercar driver Ye Yifei left Circuit of The Americas last year as a first-time WEC top class winner – the first from China – when he won Lone Star Le Mans with his Ferrari alongside Robert Kubica and Robert Shwartzman. It was a history-making moment for all three drivers, and it helped put the frustration of that year’s Le Mans 24 Hours retirement in the rear view.

“We were having a very good chance to fight for the win until the car stopped with four hours to go, so that was very detrimental,” Ye recalled. “But we managed to win Lone Star Le Mans two races after, which was very good for the whole team because it was a reward for the hard work from the mechanics, the engineers, that we deserved in Le Mans itself last year. But eventually, we got it in Austin, which was a very good boost for the confidence, for the motivation.

“And also, marking it with a double victory with [Charles] Leclerc’s win in Formula 1 [at the Italian Grand Prix]; Ferraris winning in two different world championships on one day was for sure, great to be a part of this historical moment.

A repeat visit to the top of the podium at COTA could put Ye (middle) near the top of the drivers points table. James Moy Photography/Getty Images

Ye returns to Austin, Texas and COTA not only as the defending Lone Star Le Mans winner, but the reigning Le Mans 24 Hours champion alongside Kubica and Philip Hanson. The trio in the yellow privately entered No. 83 Ferrari is also competing for the Hypercar drivers’ championship, still within touching distance of the factory red No. 51 Ferrari which leads the standings by 12 points.

“Winning Le Mans this year was, for sure, one of the highlights – and now we’re in a good position in the championship,” Ye said. “We’ll try to do a clean race, and see where we can go in the championship.

“I think in São Paulo it was clear that our competitiveness would not be up there against the others. It was clear on paper, but still, we managed to do a very clean race. We maximized everything we could to score those four important points.”

And who knows, those four points that Ye and crew scored – while the two Ferrari AF Corse factory cars were shut out of the points – could be the difference in whether or not the so-called satellite team upsets its full-factory counterparts. “Because there will be race weekends where our car will not be the fastest, so it’s important to still maximize the points-scoring despite the difficult situation," he noted. “That’s what we’ve tried to do for the rest of the season.

“We’re here to win; we’re not here just to participate, and I think we have everything that’s needed to succeed. Of course, the remainder of the season will present us a challenge.”

At COTA, Ye and others will have to contend with the heat. And even after running a GT World Challenge Asia doubleheader at Okayama International Circuit in Japan to train for the heat and humidity he’ll have to face in Austin, he said that it wasn’t quite as extreme as the conditions he’ll face this weekend. “Personally, I prefer cool conditions – I don’t want to sweat that much," he admitted. “Being fit physically will also be a big part in succeeding here, which I think I did quite well over the summer time.”

After this weekend, Fuji and Bahrain will close out the season, races which Ye feels could be a challenge for all three 499Ps. “These were the tracks where we were not so strong last year," he noted, "but we have made a good improvement compared to last year, which enabled us to win the first four races of the year.

“For sure, we are still constantly improving – so are the other teams. It will not be easy, but we’re ready to give everything possible to hunt for the championship.”