Calado's road from 'out of control' junior to Ferrari Le Mans hero

“It’s definitely not going to be as easy as last year,” Calado emphasises. “It’s going to be tough because of more cars and manufacturers, Porsche is very strong and Toyota will be there as well. I expect it to be very close – I think it’s gonna be one of those ones where it’s going to go right to the end.”

That said, Ferrari is a team which has flattered to deceive thus far in 2024. The team has shown devastating pace from Round 2 onwards after a slow start at the season opener in Qatar, but fell on its own sword with a wet weather strategy fumble in Imola before being caught out by a safety car in Spa after the race was stopped – and then extended by two hours. Its British driver is still bullish though.

“From my perspective it’s been really positive, because I think we’ve been the strongest car,” Calado says.

“In Spa, we were no doubt the fastest with all three cars – in both races we were leading the races and in circumstances out of our control we didn’t score the points.

“Spa: we would have won that race; Imola: we were there, so it’s promising going into Le Mans because I think we’ve found a lot of performance compared to last year.”

Ferrari is now appealing that Spa result, but that’s not for Calado to waste energy on – he’s busy getting the best out of the 499P car with his team-mates.

He highlights where it’s most improved, with particular focus on converting the 499P’s obvious qualifying into something which can be maintained for an entire endurance event.

“If you look at it, the last few races I think our race pace has been the most improved [out of the field] compared to last year,” he says.

“As drivers we’ve all got that year under our belt – we’ve learned well how to manage the tyres properly, in terms of driving the car and set-up, working with the engineers to try and help optimise things for the duration of a stint.

“It shows that we’re the strongest in that area – and we’re [still] quick in quali as well!”

All of Calado’s sports car learning has come at Ferrari – including his GT years, he’s been with the marque now for the best part of a decade. He explains how’s he’s matured over that period.

“A lot – especially the first few years, I was a little bit out of control coming from single-seaters,” he admits. “That’s always about trying to destroy everyone, your own team-mates, just trying to be the best and most dominant – endurance racing is different because you need to work with other drivers, you need to work with the team and you need to look after the car.

“Le Mans is about managing the whole thing because you need a race car at the end which isn’t damaged, which hasn’t got broken suspension, with bits of bodywork falling off – you need a car which is in one piece and I’ve learned that from experience.

“You don’t necessarily need to be the quickest car at all. You can hold back a bit as long as you’re there or there about. Keeping the car together is really the key, because the moment you need to push normally is always the last six hours. You need to be able to have the car underneath you to extract the performance.”

That was never more important than in the thrilling climax of last year’s Le Mans, when Alessandro Pier Guidi was able to soak up the pressure from Toyota’s Ryo Hirakawa, the 499P still on song after almost 24 Hours.

The experience was gleaned from two GT victories at La Sarthe for Calado (also with Pier Guidi) it’s clearly an environment which gets the best out of Calado.

“I’m happy,” he enthuses. “It’s my 10th year at Ferrari now, so I love it. I always wanted to be a Ferrari driver when I was young, and I’m in a good place.

“I always feel privileged, I always feel lucky to be part of this team. I always feel like I need to work hard still and keep pushing to get the results that you deserve.”

What’s helped Calado to thrive was highlighted by what John Surtees told him when he joined Ferrari in 2015.

“The first thing he said to me was at Ferrari, sports cars was just as important as Formula 1, and they treat it equally the same – and they do to this day, it’s really been like that.

“He always said Ferrari is one big family and it really is – especially the GT side of it. We’ve got the F1, the road car production, the sports cars – everyone knows one another. He was right.”

With adoration comes expectation though. While the grand prix team has had its ups and downs, the Tifosi’s passion for sports cars has been supercharged – making Le Mans more important than ever. Previous Italian WEC rounds saw crowds of around 5,000. This year’s Imola race saw over 70,000.

“It’s huge,” he says. “There’s been a lot more attention – not just on us but WEC in general too, the amount fans arriving at the track has increased, we keep seeing new record attendances being reported.

“I expect Le Mans will be very busy this year – but it’s all for the good. Italy more than anywhere is still celebrating our win from Le Mans. I really appreciate the support we get.”

If the support is fervent in his new home, then what of the UK? With talk of the WEC expanded up from eight rounds at some point in the future, Calado knows where he would want to see a race.

“Silverstone,” the Brit says. “It’s a great track and in these cars it would be pretty quick because they work really well in high downforce areas.

“Silverstone is fast flowing and to have a home race for myself would be great. I’m actually pushing them along. I always keep saying to the guys we need to do something – hopefully we’ll get it.”