Le Mans 24 Hour: Can Anyone Stop Ferrari?

Hybrid Balance of Performance Also Appears to Favor Maranello

Unbeaten in the three rounds of the FIA World Endurance Championship so far in 2025, Ferrari also heads to this weekend’s Le Mans 24 Hour chasing a hat trick wins. The Maranello team is as such favorite to win its twelfth overall Le Mans 24, but as they say, the further into a winning streak one gets, the closer you come to the end of it …

Still, Ferrari is the favorite. And unlike for the rest of the World Endurance Championship season, Le Mans uses its own Balance of Performance system. Which stands the red and yellow Italian cars in even better stead. Tas such, three Ferrari 499Ps start producing 690 horsepower and 896 maximum petrol-electric megajoules on Saturday at a minimum weight of 2297 pounds.

That compares to a winning 681 HP, 889 MJ and 2299 lbs. BoP last year, when Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina drove the number 50 AF Corse Ferrari 499P Hybrid to victory. The 51 car of course won in 2023, and Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi will be back for more in 2025. And never write Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye and Philip Hanson off the yellow privateer 83 Ferrari.

Is Toyota Gazoo Racing Ferrari’s Biggest Threat?

Being Le Mans, Ferrari’s biggest threat has to be the two Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010s, which won the 2021 and ’22 races to complete a five-race winning sweep for the team. The most successful Le Mans driver in the field, four-time winner Sébastien Buemi shares the 8 car with triple winner Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa. Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck De Vries race in historic livery in the 7 car. The GR010s race at 697 HP, 914 MJ and 2321 lbs. versus 681 HP and 906 MJ at the same weight last year.

Porsche has not had a great WEC season but chasing a record 20th Le Mans 24 Hour win, the Penske factory 993s can never be underestimated. World Endurance Drivers Champions, Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor driving with Matt Campbell in the 6, the number 5 of Julien Andlauer, Michael Christensen and Mathieu Jaminet, and wildcard car 4, Felipe Nasr, Nick Tandy and Pascal Wehrlein are certain dark horses. Neel Jani, Nicolas Pino and Nicolas Varrone will drive a fourth privateer Proton 963. The 993s will make the same 685 HP as in 2024, but run at a kilo less at 2279, with 13 MJ more at 917.

Behind the big three, so to say, there’s a splendid Hypercar tussle and quite literally any of them can also win overall. The upstarts of 2025, BMW and Alpine are both right on the pace and good for a shock win. The WRT BMW M Hybrid V8s gain three horsepower to 684 and fifteen megajoules to 919 at the same 2290 lbs., with Dries Vanthoor, Raffaele Marciello and Kevin Magnussen, and René Rast, Robin Frijns and Sheldon van der Linde at the wheel of the two Munich cars that sit third in the WEC maker’s chase.

Alpine, BMW Most Likely to Upset the Favorites

Alpine has also impressed so far this WEC season with Mick Schumacher, Frédéric Makowiecki and Jules Gounon, and Paul-Loup Chatin, Ferdinand Habsburg and Charles Milesi at the helm. The Alpine A424 Hybrids will race with ten more kilowatts but six fewer megajoules at a kilo lighter this year. Speaking of the French, Peugeot will run a new spec on its 9X8s for Paul di Resta, Mikkel Jensen and Jean-Eric Vergne, and Loic Duval, Malthe Jakobsen and Stoffel Vandoorne at an almost identical BoP to 2024.

Cadillac is another team to have struggled this season, but it’s taking no prisoners with no less than four thundering V-Series.R entries at Le Mans. Hertz Jota factory regulars, Earl Bamber, Sébastien Bourdais and Jenson Button, and Will Stevens, Norman Nato and Alex Lynn will be joined by two US teams. Wayne Taylor Racing trio, Ricky and Jordan Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque, and Whelen team Jack Aitken, Felipe Drugovich and Frederik Vesti. The Caddys will race a kilo heavier but with more power and energy.

Last but not least among the Hypercars, Aston Martin returns to Le Mans with a pair of wailing V12 Thor Team Valkyries for Harry Tincknell, Tom Gamble and Ross Gunn, and Alex Riberas, Marco Sorensen and Roman De Angelis. The non-hybrid Astons will be the lightest, but most powerful and energy laden cars on the grid. Can they deliver a shock second Le Mans win, 65 years later?

Ford Versus Ferrari Again in LMGT3

Behind the hypercar big guns, a pack of seventeen unique to Le Mans LMP2 class Oreca 07 Gibsons, some driven by prominent racing names fill the gap back to the LMGT3s. Star names include reigning Hypercar champion André Lotterer, lady star Jamie Chadwick, Renger van der Zande, Pietro Fittipaldi, Michael Jensen, Oliver Jarvis, Dane Cameron and Louis Deletraz.

Speaking of those LMGT3s, one of the oldest Le Mans rivalries fires up again for 2025 when the Ford versus Ferrari battle resumes ahead of that fight returning to the Hypercar class when Ford goes back in 2027. This year, the focus will however be on the Ferrari 296 and Ford Mustang LMGT3s that emerged to fight it out for victory in the previous WEC round at Spa Francorchamps. It is however a Corvette team; Ben Keating, Jonny Edgar and Daniel Juncadella that leads the way in the 2025 championship.

Ferrari trio François Heriau, Simon Mann and Alessio Rovera sit second in the chase from Lexus RC F LMGT3 men Arnold Robin, Jack Hawksworth and Finn Gehrsitz. All of them must however still beat a full grid of Porsche 911s, including Iron Dames Célia Martin, Rahel Frey and Michelle Gatting, ’24 winner Richard Lietz and champion Klaus Bachler, BMW M4s like the 46 of Valentino Rossi, Kelvin van der Linde and Ahmad Al Harthy, Aston Martin Vantage AMRs, McLaren 720S Evos and Mercedes-AMG LMGT3s.

With practice and qualifying on Wednesday 11 June before Hyperpole starting 20h00 Central European Time Thursday 12 June, the Hypercars go out at 21h00. The race starts 16h00 CET Saturday 14 June. The Le Mans 24 Hour is televised live on demand in most countries. Live streaming also available on demand fiawec.tv and there’s always seamless live commentary at radiolemans.co.`

Images: FIA WEC

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