Ferrari 512M: The best way imaginable to lose Le Mans

‘You know the Steve McQueen movie, right… well it’s the other one. The one he’s racing against, but in its ultimate form’

The Ferrari 512M prototype is my pitch for the greatest driving experience possible in 2026, despite results that would suggest it was just the Porsche 917’s punch bag.

In its first campaign in 1970, the 512S (as it was then called) was marred by unreliability, in an era where Le Mans was still in transition between being an endurance test and the speed trial it is today – where all traditional elements of having to ‘nurse’ the car through the 24 hours have long since been blown away. Modern Le Mans cars are simply expected to survive going to the rev limit in every gear, on every lap, and to soak up all the punishment the kerbs can dispense.