58 years after its last triumph in motorsport's most prestigious endurance race. The #51 499P driven by James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi, and Alessandro Pier Guidi prevailed in a typically chaotic and enthralling race, in which all of its main rivals - Toyota, Cadillac, Porsche, and Peugeot - led the way in the opening 12 hours hit by drawn-out safety car periods and rain.
During the race, several contenders in the top Hypercar class faltered: the #7 Toyota was forced out with Kamui Kobayashi behind the wheel, taken out by the #35 Alpine LMP2 and #66 Ferrari GTE Am while slowing for a slow zone early on in the night. Peugeot’s unfancied and off-the-pace 9X8 was a surprise contender until mid-way through the race, when Gustavo Menezes crashed it in one of the Mulsanne straight chicanes. The #6 Porsche 963 fell away early in the morning, needing extensive garage repairs after an off at the Porsche Curves.
With the #2 and #3 Cadillacs lurking in third and fourth place, the #51 Ferrari was left to battle it out with the #8 Toyota of Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, and Roy Hirakawa. A painfully slow pit stop for the Ferrari with around six hours to go left the two cars separated by only a handful of seconds.
However, the decisive moment came with 90 minutes left to run when Hirakawa locked up the rears and hit the barrier at Arnage. A pit stop to fix the damage cost the team precious minutes and gave Ferrari equally precious (and as it turned out, crucial) breathing room as it once again languished during its final pit stop, needing a system restart to fire up again after being serviced 20 minutes from the finish.
This victory brings an end to five years of Toyota domination at Le Mans, and while the team can be proud of its efforts it will no doubt be quietly furious about the Balance of Performance changes that pegged back its performance just a week and a half before the race.
Almost sixty years after its last victory at La Sarthe, Ferrari is back on the top step of the podium.
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