Below the June summer season skies and in entrance of a file 332,000 spectators, Ferrari took its third consecutive victory on the gruelling 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Giallo Modena liveried (#83) 499P, fielded by privateer squad AF Corse, outpaced its factory-backed contemporaries and took the highest step of the rostrum, with a trio of drivers who are actually firmly within the historical past books: Poland’s Robert Kubica, Britain’s Phil Hanson, and China’s Yifei Ye.
Le Mans 2025: Porsche Closes In, However Ferrari’s (#83) Holds Its Nerve
Kubica, who’s a one-time System 1 winner, drove a staggering 43 % of the race distance, together with an unplanned five-stint finale. It was redemption for the Pole, who noticed a throttle sensor deny him victory again in 2021 on the ultimate lap, when racing within the LMP2 class. Whereas he completed runner-up in 2022 and 2023, this yr Kubica managed to regulate the race tempo and site visitors. For teammate Ye, the win was historic, as he grew to become the primary Chinese language driver to take action, whereas for Hanson, it marked a return to the highest, after his LMP2 Class win from 2020.
Ranging from thirteenth on the Hypercar grid, the yellow-liveried Ferrari wasn’t one of many favorites going into race weekend. They confronted stiff competitors from seasoned manufacturing unit groups. Porsche was fast to take the lead from Cadillac within the opening stints. The drama unfolded all through the evening on the practically 8.5-mile circuit, with a number of shut calls, punctures, retirements, and the flashing lights of Hypercars screaming previous LMP2 and LMGT3 class vehicles down the Mulsanne straight.
Nonetheless, the next day, it was Kubica on the wheel of (#83) Ferrari AF Corse 499P who was 14.084 seconds away from (#06) Porsche Penske 963 when the chequered flag fell. The hard-charging Porsche practically upset Ferrari’s weekend. After being disqualified from qualifying, the (#06) Porsche 963 that began final, surged previous the sphere over 387 laps with Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor, and Matt Campbell demonstrating super perseverance.
In the meantime, the Ferrari works groups, winners in 2023 (#51) and 2024 (#50), had been compelled into assist roles following a sequence of penalties and a pricey spin by Alessandro Pier Guidi. Regardless of this, (#51) secured third within the Hypercar class with teammates Antonio Giovinazzi and James Calado, tightening Ferrari’s grip on the World Endurance Championship. (#50) Ferrari AF Corse in fourth and (#12) Cadillac Hertz Jota spherical up the highest 5 within the Hypercar Class. The Prancing Horse now leads the producer’s standings with 202 factors, greater than double Toyota’s tally.
Elsewhere, heartbreak outlined the LMP2 finale. A late penalty robbed Inter (#43) Europol Competitors of what seemed to be a sure win for (#48) ORECA-Gibson, which was main the LMP2 class. Inter Europol acquired a drive-through penalty for rushing within the pit lane, which gave the benefit to Estaban Masson’s VDS Panis automotive; nevertheless, it faltered within the ultimate 20 minutes of the race, owing to a mechanical concern. Nick Yelloly within the (#43) ultimately took the lead and swept by means of, giving the Polish group its second win in three years.
In LMGT3, it was Porsche that was the dominant drive as soon as once more. Manthey Racing, the German marque’s racing accomplice from the Nürburgring, claimed back-to-back victories with Richard Lietz, Ryan Hardwick, and Riccardo Pera taking high honors within the (#92) demonstrating Porsche’s supremacy in GT racing.
Ferrari’s Triumphant Comeback At Le Mans Is A Historic One
This triumph provides a brand new chapter in Ferrari’s long-standing historical past at Le Mans. The Italian marque first conquered the French basic again in 1949 with Luigi Chinetti and Lord Selsdon with the wheel of a 166MM, jumpstarting a golden age for Ferrari’s motorsport legacy. However Ferrari’s most dominant stint at Le Mans would come the next decade, the place it received for six consecutive years between 1958 and 1965 with the enduring 250 LM. It was additionally the final Ferrari to win outright, because the Italian sports activities automotive maker withdrew from top-level endurance racing for practically 5 many years because the rule adjustments that favored Ford’s dominant GT40s within the mid-to-late ‘60s. Ferrari shifted its consideration and started to concentrate on System and production-based racing,
However in 2023, Ferrari lastly returned to Le Mans with the 499P within the Hypercar class, taking the win on the centenary version of Le Mans, adopted by one other win in 2024. The win in 2025 makes it Ferrari’s third consecutive win, a feat. Not achieved for the reason that Nineteen Sixties, granting the Italian automaker the uncommon proper to retain the winner’s trophy completely. Different producers which have three-consecutive Le Mans victories to their title embrace Bentley (1927–1930), Alfa Romeo (1931–1934), Jaguar (1955–1957), Ford (1966–1969), Porsche (1981–1987), Audi (2000–2002) and Toyota (2018–2020). Whereas the competitors will likely be again subsequent yr, vying for a win at Le Mans, 2025 belongs to Ferrari. Catch the complete highlights beneath.
Supply: Ferrari, Porsche, FIA WEC
