The base Ferrari 488 GTE was introduced in 2016, designed by Marco Fainello and unveiled at the 2015 Finali Mondiali Ferrari at Mugello. The car was built around the Ferrari 488 GTB road car, sharing its 4.0-litre turbocharged V8 engine in a racing-developed form. In 2018 Ferrari issued the Evo upgrade package, revising the aerodynamic profile — including a smaller frontal section beneath the lights and additional venting for improved airflow — and updating other endurance-focused components. The revised specification was designated the 488 GTE Evo and became the version contested in the 2018–2023 period of the WEC's GTE categories.
Technical specification of the Evo: 4.0-litre turbocharged V8 producing approximately 500 bhp, six-speed sequential transmission, dry weight 1,245 kg (without fuel and driver), overall dimensions 4,614 mm long, 2,050 mm wide, 1,090 mm tall.
According to Racing Sports Cars archive data covering major sportscar events, the 488 GTE Evo competed in 82 events between 2018 and 2023, with 488 total entries. It recorded 41 class victories across those events, with a finishing ratio of 91 percent. The most frequent circuits were Le Mans, Spa-Francorchamps, and Bahrain. The most frequent drivers in the dataset included Alessandro Pier Guidi, Davide Rigon, James Calado, Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting, and Miguel Molina.
Under the factory AF Corse banner, the 488 GTE Evo secured the LMGTE Pro class drivers' championship in both 2021 and 2022, with James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi as the winning pairing on both occasions.
The 488 GTE Evo also won the LMGTE AM class championship in the 2019-20 and 2021 seasons.
The 2023 WEC season served as the final year for GTE-class competition before the category was retired. Ferrari 488 GTE Evo cars featured prominently in the conclusion of the category. The #83 Richard Mille AF Corse entry won at Fuji and finished third in the final championship standings. The #54 AF Corse entry claimed victory at Spa-Francorchamps, with Lilou Wadoux among the drivers; this result made Wadoux the first female driver to win an FIA World Endurance Championship race.
Factory and customer teams running the 488 GTE Evo in the WEC included AF Corse (entries #21, #54, and #83), Kessel Racing (#57 and #74), JMW Motorsport (#66), Richard Mille AF Corse (#83), and Walkenhorst Motorsport (#100).
The earlier 488 GTE, before the Evo designation, debuted at the 2016 24 Hours of Daytona with Scuderia Corsa, finishing fourth in class. At the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, Risi Competizione's entry finished second overall in GTE Pro. Risi Competizione also won Petit Le Mans in 2016. In 2017, AF Corse won both the FIA WEC manufacturers' and drivers' titles with the pre-Evo car. The 2018 Evo package subsequently became the standard configuration for all competitive Ferrari GTE entries through the end of the GTE era.
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