Customer Ferrari 499P wins Le Mans 2025

WECHyperCar

Jun 15

The 93rd edition 24 Hours of Le Mans saw a third win in a row for the Ferrari 499P. Ferrari AF Corse and Af Corse customer cars controlled the race from the second hour. There was a so called fight between the three and with the Porsche 963 #6 but it was just to keep spectators and speakers awake as the domination of the 499P was so obvious. With a fastest lap ways below competition, Ferrari was just “playing” around as the three 499P got their fastest lap below 3:27.800 when Porsche #6 fastest lap was 3:27.158.

📷© Luc Warnotte at Le Mans. #83 Ferrari 499P win with Yifei Ye, Phil Hanson and Robert Kubica.

After being part of the Cadillac front row lock Thursday, Sebastien Bourdais was already saying "Ferrari is mocking us” pointing Yifei Ye’s first lap Thursday with a 3:23.9… on a fresh surface.

It does not diminish the merit of the team’s members (mechanics, engineers, drivers, …) because running 24 hours faultless with 3 cars is an achievement even if BoP is helping reaching better performance than competition

Ferrari keep the winners’ trophy forever

For the third year running, Ferrari has triumphed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. As the #51 trio won in 2023, sister team #50 in 2024, it was to the turn of customer #83 499P to win with Yifei Ye, Phil Hanson and Robert Kubica. #51 499P of Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi took third, ahead of the #50, driven by Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen.

Thanks to the Italian manufacturer’s extraordinary result, Ferrari will now keep the winners’ trophy forever – a right granted to those who secure victory in three consecutive editions.

The Maranello manufacturer now boasts 12 overall victories in the world’s oldest and most prestigious endurance race between 1949 and 2025.

Ferrari has now secured three consecutive outright victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time since the 1960s, when the Prancing Horse won six editions in a row between 1960 and 1965. The last of those, achieved with the Ferrari 250 LM, was also the final overall triumph in France before its return to the top class of endurance racing starting in 2023.

Yifei Ye: “The 499P was fantastic, we were put in a position from the start to fight for the win. We also made up for last year’s bad luck, when we led the race for 83 laps, like the car number, but a technical problem forced us to retire. Winning Le Mans with Ferrari is something unique.” Source: Ferrari

Campbell/Estre/Vanthoor reach the podium in the #6 Porsche 963

The #6 Porsche 963 had to start from the back of the Hypercar grid. However, this did not stop Matt Campbell, Kévin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor. On the first lap, the 511 kW (695 PS) hybrid prototype from Weissach overtook seven of its rivals. After around two hours, the Porsche 963 had established itself in the leading group and from then on battled for overall victory at Le Mans until the very last of 387 laps in total. After 24 intense hours of racing, only 14.084 seconds were missing for the 20th overall triumph for the record winner Porsche.

Laurens Vanthoor (Porsche 963 #6): “Tomorrow we will look at the result and think that we have achieved more than we could have expected after the practice sessions and qualifying. Today, however, the disappointment prevails. We delivered an absolutely perfect race and virtually had one hand on the biggest trophy – you don't often come that close to such a triumph. What a pity!” Source: Porsche

Pier Guidi lost lead, Ferrari #51 dropped P3 still ending second

With four hours and 50 minutes to go involving the leading #51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P driven by Alessandro Pier Guidi clipped the grass and spun out service entering the pit lane for its full-service stop after the FCY was withdrawn. That gave the lead to Yeffe Ye with the #83 and P2 to sister #50.

📷© Luc Warnotte at Le Mans. Ferrari #51 third and Ferrari #50 fourth.

Alessandro Pier Guidi: “I’m not sure that without mistakes we could have won. Maybe we would have been closer and pushed even harder, but that’s how it went. It was a fiercely contested race—it felt like a qualifying race, and when you’re on the limit for 24 hours, mistakes can happen. I have to congratulate the #83 crew: they were fast and did a better job, scoring a lot of points.”

James Calado: “Congratulations to the #83 drivers. Over the last two weeks, they’ve always been quicker, and we knew from the start it would be a big challenge. On our side, I think all three of us made some mistakes, which cost us a position, but in the end, a third place at Le Mans is still a good result—and positive for the championship.”

#12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R fifth

The #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R driven by Alex Lynn, Norman Nato and Will Stevens, crossed the finish line in fifth place in the 21 Hypercar field after Lynn started on pole thanks to a fastest lap in Hyperpole2.

Alex Lynn: “Overall, I’m feeling satisfied. We came here and put on a really good show and a huge amount of effort. Our potential was definitely clear on Thursday and it’s a moment I won’t forget. We finished inside the top five behind three very strong Ferraris and a Porsche. I think we maximized everything we could this weekend. We go home with our heads held high.”

Norman Nato: “It was our first time as Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA and top five is really very strong. Obviously, we’d prefer to be even further up front but we gave it everything we had. We’ve fought really hard and I’m very proud of the team for their performance. At this level, against so many other manufacturers, the competition is fierce. We had a clean race, clean driving, clean pit stop, no penalties. Finishing in the top five is a great result. We always push for more, but we gave it everything we had this week so a big thanks to all the team and everyone involved in this project. They did a fantastic job since the start of the season. We’re just at the beginning of our partnership and there’s so much potential to explore together. We’re just going to get better and better. We’ll be back next year to fight for the win.”

Will Stevens: “We are an ambitious group of people. Ultimately, we come in to win. I think we should be proud of what we’ve done over these last 10 days. Qualifying on pole, locking out the front row, and I think as a team we executed a great race and I think we achieved the maximum that we could. For Cadillac, JOTA and GM, I think it’s a good result. And at the end of the day, it’s only the beginning of what we’re doing.” Source: Cadillac Racing

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing finishes sixth

The race started wrong for the #7 GR010 HYBRIDs which suffered bodywork damage on the first lap and later incurred a 50-second stop-go penalty for pit lane speeding. At half distance a safety car created new opportunities by compressing the field. The #7 – with its earlier deficit now wiped out – moved into the top 10.

As the final quarter of the race approached, the #7 recovered to eighth, but the pace at the front was ultimately too hot for the GR010 HYBRIDs and the podium proved out of reach. The #7 never stopped pushing and Kamui Kobayashiat half distance’s pace over the final hours brought the #12 Cadillac – which at one stage had been a minute ahead – into range, until a late drive through penalty ended that charge, ending sixth

.Kamui Kobayashi (Team Principal and driver, car #7): “First of all I want to share my huge appreciation to everyone – fans, partners and Toyota colleagues – who supported us on our Le Mans journey this year and who gave us this opportunity to challenge here again. We knew it would be a tough race, and it was indeed very tough. We tried to take every opportunity to get the win, but we couldn’t make it happen this time. Now we have lost to Ferrari three times in a row which is not acceptable to me. We will come back to Le Mans stronger next year and with a different mindset.” Source: Toyota Gazoo Racing