Being a motorsport star is tough. Take Le Mans race car drivers, for example. During the six to eight hours they spend behind the wheel, they can lose more than 3 liters (0.8 gallon) of bodily fluid, be subjected to forces of up to 4.5 G, and endure temperatures reaching 50°C (122°F). All this while maintaining the focus and responsiveness necessary to complete—and perhaps even win—the brutal endurance race.
It is a job for the elite few, but thanks to Thrustmaster, you can experience Le Mans—or at least get behind the wheel of the winning car—without putting yourself through that terrible ordeal. Never mind the fame, fortune, and/or glitz and glamour. The Thrustmaster Ferrari 499P Centenary Winner Edition lets you fantasize about driving the sports car that conquered the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and that is all that matters.
It may be a gaming steering wheel, which you may or may not have a racing simulator to take advantage of, but the Ferrari 499P Centenary Winner Edition is not here solely to serve the practical purpose of gaming; it is also a showpiece.
Created with Ferrari and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the wheel is a 1:1-scale interpretation of the one inside the Ferrari 499P #51 that won the race’s centenary edition in 2023. Thrustmaster did not reproduce it blindly, though. The grips have been redesigned for hands that are not wrapped in thick fire-resistant racing gloves, making them more comfortable during virtual endurance sessions.
The translucent front plate houses 11 buttons, a discreet D-pad, three central rotary encoders wearing the colors of the Italian flag, and four aluminum thumb encoders. Together, they provide up to 25 configurable actions, which should be enough to adjust the car, communicate with your imaginary pit crew, and accidentally change something important halfway through a corner.
A 4.3-inch (10.9 cm) LCDs the Ferrari 499P dashboard and up to 140 parameters. It is surrounded by RPM and flag LEDs, while more than 70 LEDs illuminate the controls without turning the wheel into a small nightclub.
Around the back is a hand-molded carbon-fiber plate carrying six adjustable paddles: two carbon-fiber shifters and four analog metal paddles. The wheel works with Thrustmaster T818 and T598 bases across compatible PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox configurations. Remember, however, that this is a wheel add-on. The base, pedals, racing seat, and excuses for your lap times are sold separately.
Only 499 individually numbered units exist. Each comes with a steel display stand, wheel bag, cleaning cloth, two A3 posters, and Le Mans Ultimate with the complete 2024 Season and ELMS Season Pass DLC.
The Thrustmaster Ferrari 499P Centenary Winner Edition costs US$851. Pre-orders opened on June 13, 2026, and the U.S. store currently lists it as out of stock. Those 499 imaginary Le Mans seats did not remain vacant for long. It’s a shame because it would look nice alongside the 1:4 scale Ferrari 499P engine from Amalgam.
Images: Thrustmaster.
