Winning once is a fluke. Winning twice is a statement. But what happened at the Circuit de la Sarthe recently is something else entirely. If you’ve been following the world’s most grueling endurance race, you know that the winners 24 hours Le Mans list has a very specific, very red theme lately.
Ferrari didn't just show up; they basically moved back into the winner's circle and changed the locks.
The Ferrari Hat-Trick: What Just Happened?
Honestly, if you told a racing fan five years ago that Ferrari would return to the top class and immediately rattle off three straight overall victories, they’d probably tell you to lay off the espresso. But here we are. In June 2025, the #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P crossed the line to secure a historic "Three-peat."
This wasn't just a factory win. It was a privateer-entered car—though heavily backed by the Maranello wizards—that took the spoils. Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye, and Phil Hanson drove a race that was, frankly, a masterclass in staying out of trouble when everyone else was finding it.
The stats from that 93rd edition are wild:
- Winning Laps: 387 (a new record for the Hypercar era).
- Winning Distance: 5,272.54 km.
- Top Speed: 349 km/h (hit by the sister #51 Ferrari).
What makes this run so insane is the competition. We aren't in the era where one manufacturer dominates because no one else showed up. Ferrari is beating Porsche, Toyota, Cadillac, BMW, and Alpine. It’s a shark tank out there.
The 2024 Breakthrough
Before the 2025 madness, we had the 2024 showdown. That was the year of the #50 Ferrari. Nicklas Nielsen, Antonio Fuoco, and Miguel Molina survived a rain-soaked, chaotic mess of a race. I remember watching the final hour thinking Nielsen’s door was going to fly off—it was literally flapping in the wind—but he held on.
They beat the #7 Toyota by a measly 14 seconds. After 24 hours. That is less time than it takes to microwave a slice of pizza.
Who Actually Owns the Record Books?
While Ferrari is the flavor of the month (and year), the all-time winners 24 hours Le Mans leaderboard is still dominated by the Germans. Porsche is the final boss of Le Mans. Period.
They have 19 overall wins. Nobody else is even particularly close. Audi is sitting in second with 13, and Ferrari has now clawed their way up to 12.
The Heavy Hitters by Manufacturer
- Porsche: 19 wins (The undisputed kings of the 80s and the 2010s).
- Audi: 13 wins (They basically owned the early 2000s with diesel power).
- Ferrari: 12 wins (Dominant in the 60s, and now dominant in the 2020s).
- Jaguar: 7 wins (The D-Type era was legendary).
- Bentley: 6 wins (Mostly from the "Bentley Boys" era in the 1920s).
It’s easy to look at a list of names and years, but you’ve gotta realize the tech gap. In 1923, the winners averaged about 92 km/h. Today, they average over 220 km/h, including pit stops and slow zones. It's a different planet.
The Drivers Who Refused to Lose
You can't talk about winners 24 hours Le Mans without mentioning "Mr. Le Mans" himself: Tom Kristensen.
The man is a freak of nature. Nine wins. Six of those were consecutive. Think about that for a second. In a race where a single loose bolt or a stray piece of carbon fiber can end your day, he stayed on top for nearly a decade.
Most Successful Drivers
- Tom Kristensen: 9 wins (The GOAT).
- Jacky Ickx: 6 wins (The original master of the Sarthe).
- Derek Bell: 5 wins (The British icon).
- Emanuele Pirro: 5 wins (Part of the Audi dynasty).
- Frank Biela: 5 wins (Also an Audi legend).
What’s interesting is how the "modern" era of drivers has shifted. We're seeing more former F1 talent like Robert Kubica and Sébastien Buemi migrate over. The Hypercar class has made Le Mans "cool" again for the world's elite pilots.
Why 2025 Changed the Game
The 2025 race wasn't just another win; it was a statistical anomaly.
First off, Robert Kubica. The guy’s story is incredible anyway, but his final quintuple stint in the #83 Ferrari was legendary. He drove 59 laps straight. That’s over 800km. Oh, and his drinks bottle broke. Imagine doing 200mph for hours in a cockpit that’s basically a carbon-fiber oven without a drop of water.
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Then you have Yifei Ye, who became the first Chinese driver to ever win the race outright. That’s a massive moment for the sport’s global reach.
The "Underdog" Winners
We also saw Inter Europol Competition take the LMP2 class again. They’re basically the little team that could. They don't have the budget of the big manufacturers, yet they keep finding ways to put that yellow and green car on the podium.
In the LMGT3 class, Manthey 1st Phorm (running the Porsche 911 GT3 R) showed that even when Porsche doesn't win the big trophy, they’re still the gold standard for GT racing. Richard Lietz secured his 6th class win there. The guy is 41 and still out-driving kids half his age.
What Does It Take to Win? (The Real Talk)
Look, you don't win Le Mans by being the fastest. You win by being the least broken.
The "Balance of Performance" (BoP) is a huge talking point every year. Basically, the officials try to level the playing field by adding weight or restricting power. In 2025, several teams complained that Ferrari had a "straight-line advantage" that no one could touch.
But honesty, strategy wins this race. Porsche Penske #6 was technically the most efficient in the pits during the last outing, spending only 42 minutes and 6 seconds stationary over the full 24 hours. They finished second. Ferrari won because they were faster on the Mulsanne straight and didn't make a single tactical error in the rain.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Aspiring Experts
If you're trying to keep track of the winners 24 hours Le Mans or just want to sound smart at the pub, keep these things in mind:
- Watch the "Triple Crown": Le Mans is the hardest leg of the Triple Crown of Motorsport (along with the Indy 500 and the Monaco GP). Only Graham Hill has ever won all three.
- The "Garage 56" Factor: Always look at the experimental entry. It doesn't compete for a win, but it usually features the coolest tech (like the NASCAR Camaro in 2023).
- Manufacturer Cycles: This sport goes in waves. We are currently in the "Ferrari Renaissance." Before this, it was the "Toyota Era" (2018–2022), and before that, the "Porsche-Audi Civil War."
- The Night Shift: The race is usually won or lost between 2:00 AM and 5:00 AM. This is when fatigue sets in and the track temperature drops. If you see a team building a lead during the sunrise, they're probably going to take it home.
The 2026 race is already shaping up to be even more crowded, with more manufacturers entering and the "BoP" wars heating up. Ferrari has the trophy forever now (since they won three in a row), so the pressure is on everyone else to steal it back.
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Keep an eye on the entry lists for the next season of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). The cars that perform well at Spa and Imola are usually the ones that end up as the winners 24 hours Le Mans. It's rarely a surprise, but it's always a spectacle.