The #83 AF Corse took the chequered flag first around Circuit de la Sarthe on Sunday, picking up Ferrari’s third consecutive win at the 24h of Le Mans.
By Noah Nayak Fernandez
Ferrari saw a drop in form at the hyperpole qualifying on Friday. The Piacenza-based team only brought one hypercar into the top ten, with the #51 Ferrari AF Corse in eleventh and the #83 AF Corse in thirteenth. The reigning winners of Le Mans only reached seventh place — the #50 Ferrari AF Corse crucially behind the Cadillac Hertz Team Jota pair with their unexpected one-two.
Despite the rough qualifying, Ferrari had a tremendous race pace following setup changes on Friday. All three cars made up places in the early laps as the Cadillacs fell. The #50 soon reached the front, and by the fourth hour, the #83 and #51 made it onto the podium places, resulting in an all-Ferrari top three.
#50 Ferrari AF Corse pushing towards the front of the pack | Credit: Noah Nayak Fernandez / Racing Reframed
The majority of the 24 hours saw the Ferraris dominating in the hypercar class as they battled it out throughout the night. Ultimately, Alessandro Pier Guidi spun his #51 Ferrari 499P while entering the pit lane, handing the lead to the #83.
Ferrari’s biggest competition was the #6 Porsche Penske, which was disqualified from qualifying after being found to be underweight in post-qualifying scrutineering. Despite starting in 21st place, the car was brought into contention for the race lead early on.
Approaching the final few hours of the race, #6 Porsche drivers Laurens Vanthoor and Matt Campbell began putting pressure on the prancing horses. They made it up into second place with two hours to go, thanks to good pit stop timing and tyre strategy. They handed it over to Kévin Estre, who came out of the pits within ten seconds of the leader, Robert Kubica in the #83 Ferrari.
After a nail-biting final stint, Kubica took it around the 13.626km for the 387th time to win his first 24 Hours of Le Mans. Kubica and his teammate Yifei Ye became the first overall winners of Polish and Chinese nationality, celebrating on the podium with their British teammate Phil Hanson.
Ferrari in an era of dominance with their latest V6
Ferrari’s V6 engine has been driving the 499P Hypercar’s success | Credit: Ferrari S.p.A.
Half a century after leaving the sport, Ferrari return to the World Endurance Championship with three wins at Le Mans. In the face of strong competition from Toyota and Porsche, the Italian manufacturer has won every race so far in the 2025 season.
The power unit they run is bold and striking — a 120° 3-litre V6 engine, twin-turbocharged and supported by a 200 kW electric motor. This engine setup has proven to be very successful for Ferrari, on and off the track.
The Tipo F163 engine has emerged as an incredible powertrain since 2021. Originally in the Ferrari 296, this engine quickly gained fame for being Ferrari’s first hybrid V6 engine on road cars. The power unit as a whole is extremely compact, with ultra-high revs and a record efficiency. In the Ferrari 499P Hypercar, the Tipo F163 CE variant reaches a peak horsepower of 671, a limitation set by WEC power regulations.
What’s impressive about this engine, however, is what Ferrari can do when they are not just limited to 500 kW of power. The 2025 Ferrari F80, successor to the LaFerrari, hits 880 horsepower — making it the most powerful production turbo V6.
Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton fittingly said, “This is the fastest road car I’ve ever been in”, as he and his teammate Charles Leclerc also commented on its light weight, good downforce, great balance, and amazing brakes.
24H of Le Mans race results
Hypercar top three
- 1st – #83 AF Corse (Phil Hanson / Robert Kubica / Yifei Ye) – Ferrari 499P
- 2nd – #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport (Matt Campbell / Kévin Estre / Laurens Vanthoor) – Porsche 963
- 3rd – #51 Ferrari AF Corse (James Calado / Antonio Giovinazzi / Alessandro Pier Guidi) – Ferrari 499P
LMP2 top three
- 1st – #43 Inter Europol Competition (Tom Dillmann / Jakub Śmiechowski / Nick Yelloly) – Oreca 07
- 2nd – #48 VDS Panis Racing (Oliver Gray / Esteban Masson / Franck Perera) – Oreca 07
- 3rd – #199 AO by TF (Dane Cameron / Louis Delétraz / P. J. Hyett) – Oreca 07
LMGT3 top three
- 1st – #92 Manthey 1st Phorm (Ryan Hardwick / Richard Lietz / Riccardo Pera) – Porsche 911 GT3 R
- 2nd – #21 Vista AF Corse (François Hériau / Simon Mann / Alessio Rovera) – Ferrari 296 GT3
- 3rd – #81 TF Sport (Rui Andrade / Charlie Eastwood / Tom van Rompuy) – Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R
Header photo credit: Noah Nayak Fernandez / Racing Reframed
