Sixteen former Formula 1 drivers to start the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2025

They will be 186 at the start of the next edition of 24 Hours of Le Mans, spread out at the wheel of 62 cars. Among them are 21 Hypercars, two fewer than in the 2024 vintage, from eight different manufacturers (Porsche, Toyota, Ferrari, Cadillac, Aston Martin, Peugeot , Alpine and BMW.)

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To drive the most powerful beasts on the grid, the teams called upon sixteen men who spent more or less time Formula 1, the premier category of motorsport. The most famous of them is undoubtedly Jenson Button, the only F1 world champion present in La Sarthe this year. The Briton, crowned in 2009 during the legendary Brawn GP epic, will be at the wheel of the Cadillac n°38 with Sébastien BourdaisThe two men faced each other on the track during the 27 Grands Prix contested by the Frenchman between 2008 and 2009, even if the Toro Rosso du Manceau was mostly used to the back of the grid.

During the first part of the 2009 financial year, the Faenza team lined up a duo of Sébastien: Bourdais teamed up with Buemi, now engaged with Toyota at Le Mans, where he has won four times. The Swiss is one of the only former F1 drivers to have won at Le Mans with Kamui Kobayashi, Brendon Hartley (Toyota) and Antonio Giovinazzi (Ferrari), who still occupies the role of reserve driver for the Scuderia.

F1 world champion and GP winner to start 24 Hours of Le Mans

Among the most recent to have moved to Formula 1, Kévin Magnussen will make his debut with BMW after leaving Haas at the end of last season, while Nyck de Vries (Toyota) will be present in Hypercar for the second consecutive year after his short stint at AlphaTauri in 2023 (10 starts). Also a former resident of the Faenza team between 2012 and 2014, Jean-Eric Vergne will defend Peugeot's chances for the third year in a row. He will team up with the British Paul di Resta, who made 58 starts with Force India between 2011 and 2013, before returning for a stint in 2017 with Williams in Hungary. Di Resta had then had to abandon during a race in which Stoffel vandoorne had taken 10th place at the wheel of the McLaren, entering the points for the second time in his Formula 1 career. The Belgian also now wears the colours of the Peugeot Lion, with whom he will compete in his second edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in Hypercar.

On the side ofAlpine, the other French manufacturer on the grid WEC, the n°36 will once again be able to count on the German's steering wheel Mick Schumacher, who seems determined to succeed in Endurance after having long hoped to make his return to F1. His stint will have been short (43 GP, 12 points), like that of Felipe Nasr (39 GP between 2015 and 2016), which did not leave its mark on Sauber, but is now making Porsche happy, while Robert Kubica left him with a fond memory within the Hinwill team after having signed his only pole position and his only victory with the structure then called BMW Sauber in 2008. The Pole is now aiming for victory at Le Mans with the yellow Ferrari of AF Corse. Finally, Will Stevens (18 GP) and Jack aitken (1 GP) have a better chance of making a name for themselves in WEC with Cadillac than during their very short stints in Formula 1.

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