Ferrari wins the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans, after an eventful twice-rounded clock.
Shortly after 12:00, following a night mostly behind the safety car, the AF Corse #83 Ferrari, which had led the race for several hours, officially retired of the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans due to a hybrid system fault. Text: Luca W. © Images: 24h-lemans
12:00 to the last hour
An hour later, rain returned, forcing teams to adjust their strategies and launch a flurry of pit stops to fit wet tires.
Around 14:00, Alessandro Pier Guidi made an aggressive overtake attempt in his #51 Ferrari 499P on Brendon Hartley’s #8 Toyota. As a result, Hartley span was demoted from 2nd to 6th position.
However, karma quickly caught up with Pier Guidi. He made a mistake at the Mulsanne curve, allowing the #7 Toyota to exact revenge for his teammate and claim the second spot on the Hunaudières straight. The game was on for José Maria Lopez, the #7 Toyota driver, to catch the leading #50 Ferrari 499P.
This move was more than just gaining the second spot, as the leading #50 Ferrari needed to pit for refueling and to repair its loose door. Toyota capitalized on this, taking the lead and pulling ahead of the #51 Ferrari by eight seconds in just a few minutes.
The unpredictable weather continued to affect strategies, forcing teams to pit for wet tires again. The #51 Ferrari had to stay in the pits for an additional 5 seconds, penalized for causing the incident with the #8 Toyota.
Countdown to the final hour
As the race entered its final hour, the stakes were higher than ever, with teams pushing their limits under the constantly changing conditions at the Circuit de la Sarthe. The final countdown is the moment where minds are crisped, teams exhausted, and especially this year, very wet spectators.
However, the first factor to fail in the last hour was mechanical: the #86 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 of GR Racing, which stopped at the Dunlop chicane, triggering a slow zone. Fortunately, Daniel Serra managed to restart his Maranello mount, preventing the deployment of a safety car in the last 30 minutes.
With a 35-second lead over the #7 Toyota, Niklas Nielsen should have been comfortable in his #50 Ferrari 499P. But he didn’t hold back, keeping the pressure on to secure his win. Trailing 25 seconds behind, José Maria Lopez took more risks, being a bit too brave at the Mulsanne curve braking area while trying to overtake a couple of LMGT3s. This small misadventure did not hold him to push more by taking more risks at the Dunlop chicane.
The polesitting #6 Porsche Team Penske Porsche 963, driven by Laurens Vanthoor, was pushing hard to get to the podium, only 1.7 seconds behind.
In LMP2, the #22 United Autosports was still in the lead, trailed by last year’s Le Mans LMP2 category winner, the #34 Inter Europol.
In LMGT3, the Manthey PureRxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R was leading the pack with a comfortable 43-second lead.
#50 Ferrari 499P wins the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans
Hypercar
Finally, it’s Nicklas Nielsen, Miguel Molina, and Antonio Fuoco that secured the win for Ferrari in the #50 Ferrari 499P, following last year’s victory by the #51 Ferrari in the prestigious Sarthe endurance race.
The #7 Toyota finished second, while the sister Maranello car completed the podium. The pole-sitting #6 Porsche finished fourth.
LMP2
#22 United Autosports takes the highest step of the podium, completed by #34 Inter Europol in second, and #28 IDEC Sport in third.
LMGT3
Porsche can smile, as their partner Manthey PureRxcing placed the #91 Porsche 911 GT3 R in the first spot of the category, sharing the podium with #31 Belgian team WRT BMW M4, and #88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang LMGT3.
