Historic Victory at the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans
In a landmark 93rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P, driven by Ye Yifei, Robert Kubica, and Phil Hanson, secured a groundbreaking victory, marking several firsts in the event’s storied history. This win represents the first overall victory for a privately entered Hypercar, the inaugural overall win for a Chinese driver (Ye), and the first for a Polish driver (Kubica).
The race set a Hypercar distance record of 387 laps around the 13.626 km Circuit de la Sarthe, narrowly missing the outright record of 397 laps. Notably, Sebastien Bourdais established a new Hypercar race lap record of 3:26.063 while competing in the Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R. With a total race time of 24:02:53.332, this event stands as the longest in World Endurance Championship (WEC) history.
Starting from 13th place due to a poor qualifying session, the #83 Ferrari is only the second winner since grid times were instituted in 1963 to emerge from outside the top ten. The second place finish for the #6 Porsche Penske Motorsports 963, driven by Kevin Estre, Matt Campbell, and Laurens Vanthoor—who began the race in 21st place—underscored the competitive nature of this year’s event, with the average starting position for the top three finishers being 15th.
Ferrari’s success extends to its third consecutive win at Le Mans, each time by different teams. “We are very happy with this third consecutive win at Le Mans,” stated Antonello Coletta, head of Ferrari Endurance and Corse Clienti. “This result is proof of how Ferrari builds its cars and can bring both official cars and those of the clients to victory.”
Kubica, reflecting on a long and challenging career, emphasized the significance of this victory: “It’s a special day… I really enjoyed it, and felt like a small kid when I was racing in karting.” Similarly, Ye expressed pride in contributing to Ferrari’s success, stating, “I’m super proud to be able to help Ferrari make this three out of three.”
Vanthoor recognized the performance of the #83 crew, stating, “The best ones won today. It will hurt for a while to come this close.” The #6 Porsche finished just 14.084 seconds behind the leaders, despite executing a flawless race strategy.
While Ferrari dominated, other teams like Cadillac showed promise, with the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R finishing fifth. “Our potential was definitely clear on Thursday,” asserted polesitter Alex Lynn.
The 2025 Le Mans race exemplified not only competitive racing but also the resilience and innovation within the motorsports community, leaving manufacturers with much to contemplate as they strive to challenge Ferrari’s exceptional prowess in endurance racing.
