We’re approaching some of the essential and acknowledged motorsport occasions on the earth: the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This 12 months’s version, which can be held on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 June, will see the participation of 19 drivers who’ve raced roughly extensively in F1, 17 of whom will compete in the primary class of Le Mans Hypercar prototypes. Right here is the whole and up to date checklist:
Felipe Nasr: Porsche Penske Motorsport #4 (Hypercar)
Felipe Nasr will compete within the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the sixth time this 12 months and presently has 0 wins. The Brazilian driver is especially identified for having raced in F1 with the Sauber group between 2015 and 2016, with 39 Grands Prix entered, however his actual glory got here in IMSA, the place he boasts three driver titles, three 24 Hours of Daytona wins, and is dominating the 2025 season alongside Nick Tandy. The Brazilian is rightly thought of one among, if not the, strongest drivers fielded by Porsche Penske Motorsport.
Pascal Wehrlein: Porsche Penske Motorsport #6 (Hypercar)
Pascal Wehrlein, Method E world champion within the 2023-2024 season, will take part within the 24 Hours for the primary time this 12 months. Like Nasr (his teammate this 12 months at Le Mans with Nick Tandy), he has 39 begins in Method 1 (2016-2017) with smaller groups like Sauber and Manor.
Kamui Kobayashi: Toyota Gazoo Racing #7 (Hypercar)
The Japanese Kamui Kobayashi wants no introduction, having 75 begins in Method 1 (2009-2012, 2014) with groups reminiscent of Toyota, BMW, Sauber, and Caterham. Few seasons, however sufficient to be remembered as some of the aggressive drivers of the interval, able to stunning overtakes with automobiles not essentially among the many best.
On the finish of his F1 profession, the Japanese driver moved to endurance racing, first with AF Corse’s Ferraris, then with Toyota from 2016, taking part in Le Mans 10 occasions and securing just one victory in 2021.
The Toyota Crew Principal (since 2022) additionally boasts 5 second locations and a 3rd place at Le Mans, 2 WEC titles (2019-20 and 2021), and 17 total wins within the World Championship.
Sebastien Buemi: Toyota Gazoo Racing #8 (Hypercar)
Former Purple Bull household driver in Method 1, Sebastien Buemi has 55 begins between 2009 and 2011 with Toro Rosso. The Swiss can be a former Method E champion (title gained within the 2015-2016 season), although his actual success got here in WEC, of which he’s a 4-time champion. This 12 months he’ll take part within the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the thirteenth time, already counting 4 wins (2018, 2019, 2020, 2022). A doable fifth victory would put him degree with Emanuele Pirro, Franck Biela, and Derek Bell, behind solely the “Mr. Le Mans” Jacky Ickx and Tom Kristensen.
Brendon Hartley: Toyota Gazoo Racing #8 (Hypercar)
Brendon Hartley can be a former Purple Bull Racing junior program F1 driver, although with an uncommon story. He raced 25 Grands Prix with Toro Rosso between 2017 and 2018 earlier than returning to WEC. He’s the one driver to have taken the reverse path, successful two world titles and a Le Mans (2017) with the Porsche 919, earlier than being recalled to the F1 Circus by Helmut Marko. After closing his F1 expertise, after a quick stint with SMP Racing, Hartley joined Toyota, changing into one among their cornerstones.
He presently has 11 Le Mans begins with 3 wins (2017, 2020, 2022), and 4 WEC world titles (2022-23 with Toyota in Hypercar), second solely to his teammate Sebastien Buemi.
Brendon is in some methods probably the most full driver of his (very robust) group: metronomic, calm, usually sacrificing his stints to permit his teammates to assault within the last phases.
Nyck de Vries: Toyota Gazoo Racing #7 (Hypercar)
Nyck de Vries, Method 2 champion (2019) and Method E world champion (2020 with Mercedes), raced in Method 1 for 11 Grands Prix between 2022 and 2023, first with Williams after which with AlphaTauri.
His WEC profession started in 2018 with Racing Crew Nederland; in 2019 on the 6 Hours of Fuji he claimed an excellent moist victory in LMP2, and earlier than his F1 stint, he had already signed a contract with Toyota. The Cologne-based group welcomed him warmly in 2024, the place he contributed to the constructors’ title with a win on the 6 Hours of Imola. He presently has 5 Le Mans participations, with a greatest results of second place final 12 months.
Will Stevens: Cadillac Hertz Crew Jota #12 (Hypercar)
With solely 18 begins in Method 1 with groups reminiscent of Caterham and Marussia, Will Stevens discovered his success in WEC the place he gained the LMP2 class title with JOTA Racing in 2022. This 12 months he’ll take part within the 24 Hours for the tenth time in his profession. The English driver boasts two class wins, in 2017 with JMW Motorsport’s Ferrari in GTE-AM (additionally with Dries Vanthoor) and in 2022 with JOTA Sport in LMP2.
Kevin Magnussen: BMW M Crew WRT #15 (Hypercar)
One of many longest-serving Method 1 drivers on the checklist, Kevin Magnussen raced with McLaren, Renault, and Haas — managing to attain a single podium. After ending his F1 profession in 2024, the Dane moved to endurance racing. He already raced at Le Mans in 2021 (with Danish Excessive Class Racing, alongside his father Jan) and hopes for a greater consequence this 12 months, the place he’ll begin with a aggressive crew together with heavyweights Dries Vanthoor and Raffaele Marciello.
Sebastien Bourdais: Cadillac Hertz Crew Jota #38 (Hypercar)
The veteran former F1 driver, Sebastien Bourdais, was really born in Le Mans in 1979. He has participated within the 24-hour race, his dwelling race, 17 occasions, ending second thrice with the Peugeot 908 between 2007 and 2011, struggling the ups and downs of the robust battle with Audi. He additionally gained within the GTE Professional class in 2016, in the course of the historic debut of the Ford GT GTE at Le Mans.
A former Toro Rosso F1 driver, he solely has 27 begins between 2008 and 2009, driving the wave of earlier American successes however struggling towards the younger Sebastian Vettel.
Bourdais was additionally the dominant determine within the last years of Method CART, successful the final 4 seasons from 2004 to 2007. He additionally gained two 24 Hours of Daytona, in 2014 and a category win in 2017 with Ford, though he was disqualified in LMP2 this 12 months for a technical infraction post-race.
Jenson Button: Cadillac Hertz Crew Jota #38 (Hypercar)
2009 world champion with Brawn GP, Button is actually probably the most profitable former F1 driver on the checklist. This 12 months he’ll race at Le Mans for the fourth time in his profession, the primary with the official JOTA Sport Cadillac V-Sequence.R. The opposite three races have been additionally firsts: in 2018 with SMP Racing’s LMP1, in 2023 driving the NASCAR Storage 56 entry, invited within the “particular” lab automobile class, and in 2024 with JOTA’s buyer Porsche 963, though that race was unfortunate.
Moreover the F1 title, Button additionally triumphed in Tremendous GT at his 2018 debut, alongside Naoki Yamamoto.
Mick Schumacher: Alpine Endurance Crew #36 (Hypercar)
Mick Schumacher, son of seven-time F1 world champion Michael, raced in F1 between 2021 and 2022 with Haas, after successful the 2020 F2 title. This 12 months he’ll compete at Le Mans for the second time with Alpine, hoping for a greater consequence than final 12 months when each Alpine automobiles retired as a consequence of engine failure.
Prospects look optimistic: Alpine had good outcomes on the Take a look at Day, and the #36 automobile comes from two consecutive podiums at Imola and Spa, the latter seeing Mick end simply seconds behind two official Ferraris, battling with them during the last two hours. He’s additionally paired with veterans Fred Makowiecki and Jules Gounon, and in current races he has proven tempo among the many leaders.
Robert Kubica: Ferrari #83 AF Corse (Hypercar)
Robert Kubica has 99 begins in Method 1, a class the place he by no means had the prospect to completely showcase his expertise. After the 2021 season, the Polish driver moved to endurance racing and has 4 participations at Le Mans.
Kubica has had a posh relationship with Circuit de La Sarthe. In his 2021 debut with the powerhouse WRT group, he got here near victory in LMP2 however his automobile suffered an accelerator failure at the beginning of the final lap, forcing retirement in a dramatic finale. His present teammate Yifei Ye was driving at the moment.
In 2022 and 2023, with Prema Racing and WRT, he completed second in LMP2, narrowly lacking victory, whereas in 2024 he debuted with the third 499P, main the race for a number of laps however inflicting a critical (and controversial) accident involving BMW #15 of Dries Vanthoor, which crashed into the Mulsanne limitations at dusk. Regardless of the penalty, the #83 AF Corse remained in competition till the ultimate hours, retiring as a consequence of a hybrid system failure.
Kubica can be the most effective LMP2 drivers of current seasons, boasting a WEC title (2023) with WRT and two ELMS titles (2021 and 2024) with WRT and AO Racing.
Antonio Giovinazzi: Ferrari AF Corse #51 (Hypercar)
After three years in F1 with Sauber and Alfa Romeo, the Italian driver discovered his path in WEC with Ferrari, as a part of the 499P program. He presently has 3 participations at Le Mans and one victory with Ferrari, the now historic 2023 win, which noticed each group and driver win on debut. Antonio Giovinazzi, sharing the cockpit with veterans James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi, arrives at La Sarthe main the drivers’ championship after wins at Imola and Spa.
Paul di Resta: Peugeot TotalEnergies #93 (Hypercar)
Winner of the 2010 DTM title and a category winner at Le Mans (the place he has 6 participations), di Resta raced steadily in F1 between 2011 and 2013 and once more in 2017 with Pressure India and Williams.
This can be his seventh 24 Hours of Le Mans, a race he gained at school in 2020 with United Autosports in LMP2.
Stoffel Vandoorne: Peugeot TotalEnergies #94 (Hypercar)
Method E champion Stoffel Vandoorne will take part for the 4th time at Le Mans this 12 months. The driving force, presently within the Peugeot Hypercar program, has 42 F1 begins between 2016 and 2018 with McLaren.
Jean-Eric Vergne: Peugeot TotalEnergies #93 (Hypercar)
Former Toro Rosso F1 driver between 2012 and 2014, Vergne managed, after ending his profession within the circus on a low be aware, to search out his approach in Method E, successful two championships (2018 and 2019). This 12 months can be his seventh participation at Le Mans.
Jack Aitken: Cadillac Whelen #311 (Hypercar)
Jack Aitken has just one F1 begin in 2020 when he changed George Russell at Williams for the Bahrain GP. Not managing to ascertain himself in Method 1, Aitken moved to endurance racing and can compete in his second 24 Hours of Le Mans this 12 months with the Cadillac V-Sequence.R.
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