Following the commercial launch of the Ferrari 488, a Ferrari spokesperson confirmed that a racing version would follow. Spy photographs taken at the ACI Vallelunga Circuit in August 2015 revealed a heavily camouflaged prototype undergoing testing, with visible differences from the outgoing 458 Italia GT. The car was officially launched at the 2015 Finali Mondiali at Mugello Circuit, alongside the 488 GT3 customer racing variant. At launch, Ferrari confirmed the engine carried over from the 488 GTB road car — a 3.9-liter twin-turbocharged V8 — as the primary technical detail. The car was designed to switch between LM GTE and Group GT3 specifications.
The 488 GTE made its race debut at the 2016 24 Hours of Daytona, with Scuderia Corsa and Risi Competizione being among the first teams to campaign it.
The 488 GTE proved consistently competitive across the three major endurance series it contested. It represented Ferrari's works effort in the FIA World Endurance Championship's GTE Pro class, fielded by the factory AF Corse team, and attracted numerous customer operations in GTE Am and equivalent classes.
In IMSA competition, the car competed in the GTLM class, one of the most competitive GT categories in North American sportscar racing, where it regularly traded victories with rival entries from Porsche, Chevrolet, and BMW.
On November 13, 2017, Ferrari Competizioni GT technical coordinator Ferdinando Cannizzo confirmed that both the 488 GTE and 488 GT3 would receive Evolution kits aimed at improving reliability and optimizing aerodynamic performance. The 488 GTE Evo completed its shakedown test at Ferrari's Fiorano Circuit on March 30, 2018. Following wind tunnel testing at the WindShear facility, the front dive-planes were removed from the final Evo specification. Cannizzo indicated at the time that the car could remain competitive through 2021 with a second evolution update, rather than requiring Ferrari to develop an entirely new car.
The Ferrari 488 GTE represented Ferrari's return to factory-supported top-class GT endurance racing and helped re-establish the marque's competitiveness at events such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the GTE Pro category. The car was eventually succeeded by the Ferrari 499P in the Hypercar class and the 296 GT3 in customer GT3 racing, but the 488 GTE remained a benchmark for turbocharged GT endurance car development during its competition life.
In iRacing, the Ferrari 488 GTE is available as a GTE-class racing car, providing drivers access to the Le Mans-style prototype-adjacent GT racing experience used in the real-world WEC and ELMS. The GTE class in iRacing is distinct from GT3, featuring higher downforce, more powerful engines, and different handling characteristics aligned with endurance racing priorities. The 488 GTE in iRacing is used in the platform's GTE and multiclass endurance events, allowing sim racers to replicate the kind of competition found at real-world events such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans.