After a very tight and uncertain 24 hours up until the final minutes, a race eventually won by Ferrari #50, it is now time for all the constructors to sum up the results of this first part of the season. Between pleasant surprises and bitter disappointments, this year's WEC championship is confirming itself as being of extremely high levels, continuing the huge awakening that began last year.
In this article we will analyze the performances of the different teams that put on a show in the hypercar class. We will evaluate how they performed compared to the expectations created in the previous three races at Losail, Imola and Spa, then analyze who was able to make the most of the package at hand and who will have to work hard to catch up.
But without further ado, let's dive into the article, because there really are a lot of irons in the fire.
PASS
Ferrari
To win on debut, 50 years of absence later and just 11 months after putting wheels on asphalt for the first time, was very difficult. Moreover, after proving ourselves -on paper- as underdogs the following year, it was even harder.
From the tests of the week before the race, it was immediately clear that we would have had to roll up our sleeves in order to fight for the win. The new parameters of the BoP - finally calibrated correctly - have in fact highlighted the main weapon of the Maranello cars; the speed in the straights, which last year made the 499Ps look like spaceships on the never ending straights of the Sarthe.
However, in a 24-hour race, anything can happen: the thing to keep in mind is to avoid making a mistake in strategy, like in Imola, and not to take unnecessary risks in the initial stages. Right from the start, a positive signal is perceived: the reds are competitive and the drivers have warm feet. There is hope, and not just for the reds: the yellow 499P of AF Corse also demonstrated a surprising pace, remaining in the running for victory up until its unfortunate retirement due to a reliability problem (the first suffered by a 499P in almost two years of racing).
Despite a few too many errors, such as the various penalties for unsafe release received by the #50, and the last-minute anxiety caused by a door not being closed correctly, which then forced the last stop to be brought forward and demanded energy saving, the Ferraris have once again accomplished a memorable triumph.
Toyota
Very much deserved round of applause also for the Japanese team. Despite an unlucky qualifying which forced their cars to start in eleventh and twenty-third position, and despite a not exactly brilliant start to the race, the collective strength and experience of the group emerged in the crucial moments. Especially when it is time to play strategy.
But then again, there must be a reason why the Japanese have dominated all the last seasons, right?
The perfect calls from the pit wall, combined with a reliable, constant and performing vehicle in every situation - although probably not the fastest -, and finally the heavy foot of the drivers, allowed the car #7 to remain in the running for victory until the last minutes, only to then surrender to an extraordinary Nielsen, put in energy-saving mode.
Cadillac
The V-Series.R finally manages to go strong, especially in qualifying.
The growth path of the American team is clearly visible. Although there are still some problems regarding reliability, as demonstrated by the retirement of car #3. Probably the staggered strategy of car #2 compared to the leaders has fueled false hopes in the fans, suggesting an advantage that is not actually present. Yet it doesn't matter because the progress can be seen, and already in Spa very positive signs were visible, before Bamber caused the disaster.
And then, what a sound from the naturally aspirated 5.5L V8 engine! That certainly makes the "ignorantometro" spike, a nice term coined by the friends at Eurosport precisely to describe this monster of an engine who, as always, never stops giving us emotions. Thank you Cadillac for thinking of the ears of us fans.
Lamborghini
The tenth place of car #63, on its debut here at Le Mans and ahead of the much more renowned Peugeots, can only bring positive sensations to the Lambo household.
Reliability is excellent, which for new projects still in the development phase and in such a long race, always remain unknown, as confirmed by Racing Director Emmanuel Esnault: "This is a great success. Finishing the race without major problems was our first goal, and we did it without a single stop in the garage and scoring our first point in the FIA WEC."
The Sant'Agata company can therefore continue the development of the SC63 with increasingly solid certainties.
Isotta Fraschini
What can I say, other than wow.
The package brought by Michelotto Engineering and Duqueine is not bad at all, on the contrary. Of course it's not the best, but let's put ourselves in their shoes: catapulted into the world of endurance championship with a totally new car, two Silver drivers who are still young and immature and a limited budget that prevents them from carrying out tests to better understand and develop the car. Furthermore, the Type 6 LMH-C doesn't even enjoy all the BoP aids, as happened in Vanwall last year, but it still runs with 15kg of ballast, which can be perceived quite a lot in the fast corners of the final sector.
Just the fact of having finished the race - something that neither Alpine nor BMW (just to name a couple) managed to do - demonstrates excellent reliability that can therefore be considered a huge victory, as seen by the hugs and cheers in the garage at the end of the race. A truly touching scene for lovers of motorsport romance.
DELAYED
Porsche
A bittersweet mix for the Stuttgart house. After arriving as the favorites, having performed well in the tests, having achieved pole position, finishing off the podium, albeit behind an excellent Pier Guidi who put everything on the line in the final laps, seems like complete mockery.
Especially having been able to count on six cars at the start, and even more so after the provocations from Toyota, which had declared before the race that a possible failure for Porsche to win would have been the result of an inadequate performance.
Yet, we don't feel like judging the German company in a completely negative way: after all, already in Spa and Imola, where they collected glory more through luck than speed, the 963s no longer seemed to be the queens of the track as they were in Qatar.
Also thanks to the BoP, which fortunately corrected the situation after the disasters at the beginning of the season.
Bonus points for the incredible work of Jota Sport, who pulled off the near-impossible achievement of assembling a car from scratch in one day, after having to do a shakedown at the airport, and then driving it to the finish line 24 hours later. Chapeau!
FAILED
Peugeot
The 9X8 without wings was doing badly, it's true, but at least at Le Mans (and in Qatar) it had shown a glimpse of competitiveness, apart from the drivers’ mistakes.
On the other hand, the 9X8 evo, here just as in Spa and Imola, has never been in competition: slow both in qualifying and in the race, day or night, sun or rain, it made no difference. Among other things, last year Peugeot proved to be strong especially on wet tracks and in the rain, which were recorded more in this 2024 season.
A small relief comes from the fact that the reliability problems seem to have been overcome, but these first releases of the renewed 9X8, after all the investments made on the project, are disappointing to say the least.
BMW
The Munich team also did poorly because of the race being peppered with driver errors and accidents from the very early stages.
After just 20 minutes Wittmann threw car #15 into the wall, and then managed to restart it.
Then it was Frijns' turn, hitting the wall with car #20 after just 2 and a half hours. The car then managed to return to the pits, and then set off again after many hours, but was not present in the final standings.
And so as not to miss anything, it ends with the second crash of car #15, sent into orbit at night by a Kubica who was probably annoyed by the fact that Vanthoor really didn't want to give space to him, despite having already missed two chicanes, the blue flags and the incessant flashes of the 499P #83.
Apart from the accidents and a small exploit in qualifying, later nullified by an error during the Hyperpole, Le Mans was a decidedly unremarkable weekend for the German constructor.
UNCLASSIFIED
Alpine
A disaster.
And it's very sad to say this, because the French LMDh has shown that it has potential, it’s even fast, especially in qualifying.
But if at the 24 hours of Le Mans you find yourself with both cars retired due to blown engines after less than 6 hours, regardless of endurance racing, it is clear that there are serious problems.
And be careful, because these reliability problems had already cropped up in pre-season tests and previous races, not that any big discoveries were done here at Le Mans.
The main suspect? It can only be the Mecachrome V634, at the base of the French power unit. Known more for memes than anything else, this cute - or maybe not - V6 is famous for exploding at random moments and completely without warning. Ask the Formula 2 and Formula 3 drivers who have fallen victim to a "Mecachrome moment", you will not be disappointed.
The severe fact is that no intervention was done to at least try to save the reputation in the most important match of the year - at home among other things.
Basically, a race lost from the start due to a suicidal choice in the design phase.
For the series of "interviews that did not age well", we report here the words of Nicolas Lapierre at the beginning of the season, referring precisely to the Mecachrome engine: "In the tests we managed to race for 30 hours straight. I think the engine is working quite well. Le Mans is special, it's a different track, with different conditions, but so far it's been good for this engine."
Boom. Destroyed.
Really bad.. Let's hope for a radical change of direction from an engine point of view because, as mentioned before, the overall package is not bad at all.
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