There is something quite special about Ferrari winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans, particularly the 100th edition. The #51 Ferrari 499P Hypercar, driven by Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi covered 342 laps of the French track beating home the #8 GR010 Toyota Hybrid of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa. Third was the Cadillac Racing #2 Cadillac V-Series R of Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn and Richard Westbrook ahead of teammates Scott Dixon, Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande in the #3 Cadillac V Series.
Ferrari have not taken the overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans since 1965. With 29 Class wins, this was the Prancing Horse’s tenth overall triumph to go with wins in 1949, 1954, 1958, and 1960-1965.
Some are reporting it as a shock win, however, this is not necessarily the case. Having returned to the top class after half a century, their 449P Hypercar has finished on the podium at all four of the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship rounds this season and claimed pole position for the Le Mans race.
This is an important win which may well cement their participation in the FIA WEC for some years ahead.
With this result in round four of the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship, Ferrari remains second in the Manufacturers’ standings, narrowing the gap to Toyota to 19 points.
Le Mans 24 Hours – Result
1st #51 Ferrari AF Corse (Pier Guidi/Calado/Giovinazzi) 342 laps
2nd #8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +1min 21.793secs
3rd #2 Cadillac Racing (Bamber/Lynn/Westbrook) +1 laps
4th #3 Cadillac Racing (Bourdais/Van der Zande/Dixon) +2 laps
5th #50 Ferrari AF Corse (Fuoco/Molina/Nielsen) +5 laps
6th #708 Glickenhaus (Dumas/Briscoe/Pla) +7 laps
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