24 Hours of Le Mans 2026 – FP1: Cadillac levitates, Peugeot struggles

The No. 38 Cadillac of Hertz Team Jota set the fastest time in the first free practice session of the week. It was a one-two finish for the V-Series.R cars, with the No. 101 in second place and the No. 12 fourth. However, the 24 Hours of Le Mans got off to a bad start for Peugeot…

That's it, the 24 Hours of Le Mans The 2026 season is finally underway! After a first three-hour free practice session, several lessons can be learned. First of all, the Cadillacs seem to be in great form. The fastest time went to the #38 of Earl Bamber, Sébastien Bourdais and Jack Aitken ahead of the No. 101 Wayne Taylor Racing car. While the Americans long believed in a 1-2-3 finish, the No. 20 BMW snatched third place ahead of the third Cadillac, the No. 12 driven by Will Stevens, Norman Nato, and Louis Delétraz. An even more impressive performance for the No. 38, which finished the session with damage after running over a curb.

Between 3rd and 10th place, we find seven different manufacturers: BMW, Cadillac, Alpine, Toyota, Classic Ferrari for sale, Aston Martin and Genesis are ranked in that order. On the other hand, it was more complicated on the side of Peugeot , long stuck at the back of the pack throughout the session. Number 94 of Loïc duvalMalthe Jakobsen and Theo Pourchaire Peugeot finished last among the Hypercars. The #93 car of Stoffel Vandoorne, Nick Cassidy, and Paul di Resta climbed to 16th place. A disappointing performance for Peugeot.

Things weren't much better for Ferrari, whose only bright spot came from the No. 50, which finished seventh, while the No. 51 (15th) and No. 83 (17th) failed to impress. AF Corse's reigning champions had a difficult end to the session when Yifei Ye went off the track at Mulsanne Corner. The yellow 499P touched the wall but was able to continue.

With just minutes remaining on the clock, Ye Yifei loses control of the #83 Ferrari at Mulsanne! 😱# LeMans24 #WEC pic.twitter.com/D4mFUpuCaT

- 24 Hours of Le Mans (@ 24hoursoflemans) June 10, 2026

At AlpineThere was also some trouble between the Esses de la Forêt and the Tertre Rouge, where Frédéric Makowiecki crashed with car #36, damaging his A424 too much to hope to return to the pits. The three-hour session ended with car #36 stopped at the Mulsanne Straight.

🛞 Late drama for @AlpineWECteam at the end of FP1!

Makowiecki hits the barrier exiting the Esses. The rear of the Hypercar is damaged, and the car has come to a halt at the first Mulsanne straight chicane.# LeMans24 #WEC pic.twitter.com/uReXSzefYZ

- 24 Hours of Le Mans (@ 24hoursoflemans) June 10, 2026

In LMP2, Dorian Pin The #30 Duqueine Team car set the fastest time at the end of the session, ahead of Kévin Estre and the crew of the #14. A great performance from the two French drivers. The podium was completed by the #28 IDEC Sport car, which held the fastest time for a long time thanks to Valerio Rinicella. While there were a few off-track excursions—by the #4, #9, and #37 cars—no major accidents were reported in LMP2.

Finally, the reference brand in LMGT3 went to the Lexus #78 of Akkodis ASP, ahead of the BMWs #32 and #69.

Join us from 18:45 pm to follow the LMP2 and LMGT3 qualifying sessions together, before moving on to the Hypercars.

ALSO READ > Exclusive – Kamui Kobayashi (Toyota) before the 24 Hours of Le Mans: “Only victory would satisfy us”

WEC – 24 Hours of Le Mans 2026
The ranking of Free Practice 1

Hypercar 

LMP2 

LMGT3