Ferrari No. 83 wins the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2025

Since its return to sports prototypes, Ferrari has made 24 Hours of Le Mans its preferred hunting ground. The firm of Maranello confirmed this Sunday by securing a third consecutive victory, with as many cars. After the No. 51 of Alessandro Pier Guidi, Antonio Giovinazzi, James Calado in 2023 and the No. 50 of Miguel Molina, Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen in 2024, it was the No. 83 of the AF Corse team that took victory with Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye and Phil Hanson. Three men who won the Le Mans classic overall for the first time. It is a great revenge for the Pole and the Chinese, who experienced the heartbreak of losing the LMP2 category victory on the last lap in 2021, when they were teammates at WRT. They are also the first drivers from their respective nations to win. For Yifei Ye, this success has an even more special value as he was trained in Le Mans, where he lived during his adolescence.

The trio won a race clearly dominated by the Ferraris. While the Hertz Team JOTA Cadillacs locked out the front row in Thursday's Hyperpole, the American manufacturer's two gold cars were unable to maintain their advantage for more than a lap. Starting third, Julien Andlauer made a perfect start to place the Porsche #5 led the race. While the German manufacturer showed its strength, with the #6 quickly coming back from last place in its class to the top, the 963s were never able to thwart Ferrari's plans. The Maranello firm quickly placed all three of its cars on the podium, and no major racing incident interrupted their triumphant march. The three cars thus shared the victory, and in this game, it was the #83 that took advantage of an error by Alessandro Pier Guidi to win. While he was leading at the end of the morning, the Italian lost control of the #499 51P while entering the pits, handing victory to the privateer trio.

Behind Kubica, Hanson, and Ye, the No. 6 Porsche of Kévin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor, and Matt Campbell took second place, ahead of the No. 51 Ferrari. For the French manufacturers, this 24 Hours of Le Mans was not a gentle one. Unlike last year, the two Alpine finished the race in 10th and 11th place. On the side of Peugeot , the Lion brand finished in 12th and 17th places.

VDS Panis Racing unhappy in LMP2

In LMP2, victory was decided in the final hour of the race. Leading the class, the No. 07 Inter Europol Competition Oreca 43 was penalized with a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. The crew of Nick Yelloly, Tom Dillmann, and Jakub Smiechowski dominated most of the race before relinquishing first place to VDS Panis Racing. The joy of the French team, led by the former Formula 1 Olivier Panis, whose car was driven by Esteban Masson, Franck Perera and Oliver Gray, was short-lived, however, as the No. 48 suffered a suspension issue shortly after, handing victory to the Polish team. AO by TF won the LMP2 Pro/Am sub-class with PJ Hyett, Louis Delétraz and Dane Cameron.

Manthey and Richard Lietz hit again in LMGT3

In LMGT3, after the setbacks encountered by the #46 Team WRT BMW at nightfall, it was a Porsche versus Ferrari duel that dominated the category during the second half of the race. It was ultimately the #92 Manthey Porsche that won, thus giving a second consecutive victory to the German team and its star driver Richard Lietz. The Austrian thus secured his fifth class victory in La Sarthe, all achieved with Porsche. For his teammates Riccardo Pera and Ryan Hardwick, this was a first triumph at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the American gentleman driver having played no part in the success, notably thanks to a particularly fast triple stint to launch this 93rd edition.

Alessio Rovera, François Hériau and Simon Mann brought second place back to Ferrari with the No. 296 3 LMGT21 from the Vista AF Corse team, while Corvette took third place with the No. 81 from the TF Sport team (Charlie Eastwood, Tom Van Rompuy, Rui Andrade).

24 Hours of Le Mans 2025
The classification of the race: