Under the June summer skies and in front of a record 332,000 spectators, Ferrari took its third consecutive victory at 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 top step of the podium, with a trio of drivers who are now firmly in the history books: Poland’s Robert Kubica, Britain’s Phil Hanson, and China’s Yifei Ye.
Le Mans 2025: Porsche Closes In, But Ferrari’s (#83) Holds Its Nerve
Kubica, who is a one-time Formula 1 winner, drove a staggering 43 percent of the race distance, including an unplanned five-stint finale. It was redemption for the Pole, who saw a throttle sensor deny him victory back in 2021 on the final lap, when racing in the LMP2 class. While he finished runner-up in 2022 and 2023, this year Kubica managed to control the race pace and traffic. For teammate Ye, the win was historic, as he became the first Chinese driver to do so, while for Hanson, it marked a return to the top, after his LMP2 Class win from 2020.
Starting from 13th on the Hypercar grid, the yellow-liveried Ferrari wasn’t one of the favorites going into race weekend. They faced stiff competition from seasoned factory teams. Porsche was quick to take the lead from Cadillac in the opening stints. The drama unfolded throughout the night on the nearly 8.5-mile circuit, with several close calls, punctures, retirements, and the flashing lights of Hypercars screaming past LMP2 and LMGT3 class cars down the Mulsanne straight.
However, the following day, it was Kubica at the wheel of (#83) Ferrari AF Corse 499P who was 14.084 seconds clear of (#06) Porsche Penske 963 when the chequered flag fell. The hard-charging Porsche nearly upset Ferrari’s weekend. After being disqualified from qualifying, the (#06) Porsche 963 that started last, surged past the field over 387 laps with Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor, and Matt Campbell demonstrating tremendous perseverance.
Meanwhile, the Ferrari works teams, winners in 2023 (#51) and 2024 (#50), were forced into support roles following a series of penalties and a costly spin by Alessandro Pier Guidi. Despite this, (#51) secured third in 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 round up the top five in the Hypercar Class. The Prancing Horse now leads the manufacturer’s standings with 202 points, more than double Toyota’s tally.
Elsewhere, heartbreak defined the LMP2 finale. A late penalty robbed Inter (#43) Europol Competition of what appeared to be a certain win for (#48) ORECA-Gibson, which was leading the LMP2 class. Inter Europol received a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane, which gave the advantage to Estaban Masson’s VDS Panis car; however, it faltered in the final 20 minutes of the race, owing to a mechanical issue. Nick Yelloly in the (#43) eventually took the lead and swept through, giving the Polish team its second win in three years.
In LMGT3, it was Porsche that was the dominant force once again. Manthey Racing, the German marque’s racing partner from the Nürburgring, claimed back-to-back victories with Richard Lietz, Ryan Hardwick, and Riccardo Pera taking top honors in the (#92) demonstrating Porsche’s supremacy in GT racing.
Ferrari’s Triumphant Comeback At Le Mans Is A Historic One
This triumph adds a new chapter in Ferrari’s long-standing history at Le Mans. The Italian marque first conquered the French classic back in 1949 with Luigi Chinetti and Lord Selsdon with the wheel of a 166MM, jumpstarting a golden age for Ferrari’s motorsport legacy. But Ferrari’s most dominant stint at Le Mans would come the following decade, where it won for six consecutive years between 1958 and 1965 with the iconic 250 LM. It was also the last Ferrari to win outright, as the Italian sports car maker withdrew from top-level endurance racing for nearly five decades as the rule changes that favored Ford’s dominant GT40s in the mid-to-late ‘60s. Ferrari shifted its attention and began to focus on Formula and production-based racing,
But in 2023, Ferrari finally returned to Le Mans with the 499P in the Hypercar class, taking the win at the centenary edition of Le Mans, followed by another win in 2024. The win in 2025 makes it Ferrari’s third consecutive win, a feat. Not achieved since the 1960s, granting the Italian automaker the rare right to retain the winner’s trophy permanently. Other manufacturers that have three-consecutive Le Mans victories to their name include Bentley (1927–1930), Alfa Romeo (1931–1934), Jaguar (1955–1957), Ford (1966–1969), Porsche (1981–1987), Audi (2000–2002) and Toyota (2018–2020). While the competition will be back next year, vying for a win at Le Mans, 2025 belongs to Ferrari. Catch the full highlights below.
Source: Ferrari, Porsche, FIA WEC
