- Ferrari won the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans
- The win marked a back-to-back victory for Ferrari, which returned to the top tier of the race in 2023
- The 2024 race involved countless crashes and car repairs
Ferrari took home overall victory on Sunday at an eventful 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans, making it back-to-back wins for the Italian marque that only made its return to the top level at the French classic last year after half a century away.
Ferrari had three 499P LMH cars in the premier Hypercar class, and the number 50 car driven by Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, and Nicklas Nielsen was the first to cross the checkered flag after 311 laps. At that point, eight cars were still on the lead lap after the full 24 hours.
Nielsen was behind the wheel for the final stint and was able to survive wet conditions, an issue with his door, and an investigation for an unsafe pit stop release to edge out the no. 7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid LMH driven to second place by Nyck de Vries, Kamui Kobayashi, and Jose Maria Lopez, just 14 seconds behind the winner.
Rounding out the top three places in the race, which served as round four of the 2024 World Endurance Championship, was the no. 51 Ferrari 499P LMH driven by last year's winners, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi, and Alessandro Pier Guidi. It finished just 36 seconds behind its sister car.
2024 24 Hours of Le Mans - Photo via Ferrari
First place in the LMP2 class and 15th overall went to the no. 22 Oreca 07 of United Autosports, driven by Bijoy Garg, Oliver Jarvis, and Nolan Siegel. First place in the LMGT3 class designed for race cars based on production models was the no. 91 Porsche 911 GT3 R of Manthey EMA, driven by Richard Lietz, Yasser Shahin, and Morris Schuring. In its return this year to Le Mans, the Ford Mustang also earned a podium finish in the LMGT3 class. Fielded by Germany's Proton Competition, the no. 88 Mustang GT3, with Dennis Olsen, Giorgio Roda, and Mikkel O. Pedersen driving, managed to finish third in class, behind a BMW M4 GT3 fielded by Team WRT.
This year's Le Mans started with the no. 6 Porsche 963 LMDh on the pole position and the no. 3 Cadillac V.Series.R LMDh joining it at the front of the grid. Behind them were the no. 50 and no. 51 Ferraris. The no. 50 car already led the race by the end of the first lap and the no. 51 car moved into second shortly thereafter.
Ferrari's third 499P, the no. 83 car, also spent a long stint in the lead spot early on but needed repairs after contact with the no. 15 BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDh, with Robert Kubica in the Ferrari and Dries Vanthoor in the BMW. The impact resulted in the BMW retiring. BMW's no. 20 car was also unable to compete with the front-runners due to several technical issues and a crash with Robin Frijns behind the wheel.
2024 24 Hours of Le Mans - Photo via Ferrari
Another big crash involved the no. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 of Heart of Racing, the team that next year will field Aston Martin's new Valkyrie AMR-LMH in the Hypercar class. The car, driven by Daniel Mancinelli, hit a wet patch before sliding into a barrier at high speed and ultimately ending up on its roof.
A similar incident involving the no. 4 Porsche 963 LMDh only an hour prior was caused by Felipe Nasr losing control due to a damp patch in the same curve and ending up in the barriers. The crash also meant the car was retired.
With the 50 points for the victory, Ferrari is now second in the Manufacturers’ standings, nine points behind Porsche. The next race on the calendar is the 6 Hours of São Paulo in Brazil in mid-July.
