Who Won the Le Mans 2025: Ferrari’s Historic Three-Peat and That Yellow \#83 Surprise

Who Won the Le Mans 2025: Ferrari’s Historic Three-Peat and That Yellow \#83 Surprise

Honestly, if you had told anyone back in 2022 that Ferrari would return to the top flight of endurance racing and just... refuse to lose for three straight years, they’d have called you a dreamer. But here we are. The 93rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2025 wrapped up with a result that felt both inevitable and completely shocking all at once.

The short answer to who won the Le Mans 2025 is the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P. This wasn't just another factory win, though. It was the "privateer" car—the yellow-liveried beast—that took the checkered flag. Driven by the trio of Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye, and Phil Hanson, this car technically isn't part of the main factory squad, yet it outpaced almost everyone on the grid.

The Giallo Modena Masterclass

Watching the No. 83 Ferrari cross that finish line felt like a huge moment for Robert Kubica especially. The guy has had such a rollercoaster of a career, and seeing him finally stand on the top step at Le Mans felt right. He, Ye, and Hanson weren't just lucky; they were blisteringly fast. They survived 387 laps of absolute chaos, beating the No. 6 Porsche Penske 963 by a mere 14 seconds.

Fourteen seconds.

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After 24 hours of racing, that’s basically a heartbeat. It’s the length of a slow pit stop. Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor, and Matt Campbell pushed that Porsche to the absolute limit, but the Ferrari’s straight-line speed on the Mulsanne Straight was just too much to overcome. Porsche did everything right—perfect strategy, zero mistakes, no penalties—and they still couldn't catch the Prancing Horse.

The Podium and the Drama

The final results looked like this:

  1. No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P (Kubica/Ye/Hanson)
  2. No. 6 Porsche Penske 963 (Estre/Vanthoor/Campbell)
  3. No. 51 Ferrari AF Corse (Pier Guidi/Calado/Giovinazzi)

Wait, what happened to the No. 50 Ferrari? The 2024 winners?

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This is where it gets kind of messy. The No. 50 car actually finished fourth on the road, but they were later disqualified. Tech inspectors found a major issue with rear wing deflection—basically, the wing was flexing more than the rules allow to reduce drag. It was a brutal way to end the weekend for Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, and Nicklas Nielsen. That DSQ bumped the No. 12 Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac up into a very respectable fifth place.

Why Ferrari Keeps Winning

You've gotta wonder what Maranello is putting in the water. This was their third consecutive overall win (2023, 2024, 2025), which means they now get to keep the actual winners' trophy forever. That’s a rule reserved for those who hit the "three-peat" milestone.

The 499P is just a rocket. Even when the Balance of Performance (BoP) adjustments try to level the playing field, Ferrari finds a way. In 2025, they were hitting top speeds of 349 km/h. When you have that kind of "grunt" in a straight line, it makes defending a lead so much easier. Porsche tried to counter this by going for longer stints—running 13 laps per tank of fuel instead of Ferrari’s 12—but Ferrari just matched them. It was a chess match at 200 mph.

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Toyota’s Rough Weekend

It’s weird to see Toyota so far down the order. The No. 7 GR010 finished 6th, and the No. 8 car had a nightmare, finishing 16th after a mechanical failure cost them 20 minutes in the pits. Kamui Kobayashi was pretty blunt about it afterward, saying losing to Ferrari three times in a row is "not acceptable." You can bet the midnight oil is burning in Cologne and Higashi-Fuji right now.

Class Winners You Might Have Missed

While everyone focuses on the Hypercars, the other classes were just as wild.

  • LMP2: The No. 43 Inter Europol Competition team took the win. This crew (Nick Yelloly, Jakub Śmiechowski, and Tom Dillmann) has become a bit of a powerhouse in the secondary class. They survived a late drive-through penalty and still came out on top after the VDS Panis Racing car broke down just nine laps from the finish.
  • LMGT3: Porsche got some revenge here. The No. 92 Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche 911 GT3 R took the class win. Richard Lietz, a legend in GT racing, notched his sixth Le Mans class victory.

What This Means for the Future

The 2025 race proved that the Hypercar era is the real deal. We had 21 Hypercars on the grid from eight different manufacturers. Even the newcomers like Aston Martin with their Valkyrie LMH showed promise, finishing 12th and 14th without falling apart.

If you're looking to dive deeper into the world of endurance racing after this result, here are a few things to keep an eye on:

  1. Watch the Replays: Look for the footage of the final three hours. The battle between the No. 83 Ferrari and the No. 6 Porsche was some of the most disciplined defensive driving you'll ever see.
  2. Follow the WEC Standings: Ferrari now has a massive lead in the World Manufacturers' Championship. It’ll be interesting to see if Toyota or Porsche can claw anything back in the remaining rounds at Interlagos or Bahrain.
  3. Check out the "Privateer" Story: The No. 83 win is significant because it's the first time a non-factory team has won Le Mans in two decades. It opens the door for more private entries to believe they can actually beat the giants.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans remains the greatest race on earth for a reason. 2025 gave us a yellow Ferrari, a heartbroken Porsche, and a dynasty that doesn't look like it's ending anytime soon.