2025 24H of Le Mans: How the grid looks like and what to look out for

The 2025 24H of Le Mans are nearly here. After 2 great editions in 2023 and 2024, the Circuit de Le Sarthe is ready to deliver another race to remember for all the racing fans. So, as we get closer to the race, let's talk about the 2025 24H of Le Mans participants in each class and the things we should look out for.

We have to begin with the main talking points arriving at Le Mans, Ferrari. They come not only from winning the last 2 24Hs, but also from winning all of the 2025 FIA WEC events in the Hypercar class. The #51 Ferrari AF Corse is the current championship leader with 2 wins and a 3rd place in the bag. Close behind them are another 2 Ferrari's however, the #50 and the #83. While the #50 driven by Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen got a great start to the season, a mishap at Imola saw them finish 15th, losing valuable points to their sister car. Then we have the "Giallo" AF Corse which, while it isn't considered an official Ferrari entry, it is as close as you can get to one. They had another great start to the season finishing 2nd and 4th in the first 2 races, but had a tough time at Spa where they couldn't get a single point. They are, understandably, the favourite brand to take the overall win at Le Mans, but they will have to fight it big time.

Toyota have won 5 times consecutively at Le Sarthe from 2018 to 2022 while being runners-up twice in the last 2 editions. They have suffered a lot during the last 2 seasons thanks to a seemingly unfair Balance of Performance treatment in most weekends, but they haven't given up yet. Currently 4th and 10th in this year's championship, both the GR010s have been pretty consistent, scoring decent points each weekend and not finishing lower than 7th. Le Mans is their special circuit though, the track where they can shine the most even if they don't have the pace to win. It was proven last year where, even though they had no right to fight for the win whatsoever, they still managed to be in said fight up until the end. This season they have struggled a bit more in 2024, but with the small BoP break that they have been given, we might see the Japanese fighting for the top step again.

Alpine have been the big surprise this season. After a somewhat inconsistent 2024 season where the French could only take 1 podium at Fuji, they managed to bounce back in style, taking a 3rd place in the last 2 events at Spa and Imola with the #36 car driven by Jules Gounon, Mick Schumacher and Frédéric Makowiecki. They have had great pace in their last few races, but we still don't know how well they might perform at Le Mans, as last year in their debut both cars ended on the DNF list after just 6 hours. This year though it looks like they will be able to bounce back in amazing fashion, with 2 great line-ups in the #35 and #36.

We then have last year's favourites and world champions, Porsche. They have had a pretty underwhelming 2025, with a highest finish of 8th in the Qatar season opener, a great contrast compared to last year's wins. The BoP has been their worst enemy this season, not being able to show their potential and having to settle on a constant fight for a Top 10 finish. Last year at Le Mans they grabbed pole position and finished in 4th place with their best car, but it now seems like that was a whole different story. Their now-typical IMSA entry #4 will return to the grid this year driven by Felipe Nasr, Nick Tandy and the latest Formula-E World Champion, Pascal Wehrlein. They will join the two Porsche Penske entries, the #5 and #6, as well as the privateer #99 Proton. Last year the German/American dream was close to perfecting with the 24H of Le Mans and Petit Le Mans being the only 2 big races that they couldn't win. While this year they are far from being as dominant as they were last time, they will try to make up for this year's disaster and win the big Le Sarthe classic.

And it keeps going, this time with BMW. They have been another pretty consistent outfit, just like Toyota. They got a podium with the #20 at Imola and have been fighting for the top spots in every race. Last year at Le Sarthe things didn't go to plan for them, including one big crash from Dries Vanthoor in the #15 with Robert Kubica. However, this season it seems like they have been able to change the narrative from their story, and will be looking towards putting up a challenge at Le Mans.

Cadillac have suffered quite the change compared to last season in a new factory team in Hertz Team Jota after CGR's departure at the end of 2024. A somewhat unstable beginning of the season was helped by a great result with both the #12 and #38 JOTAs at Spa, giving them some hope before Le Mans. During the last 2 seasons they have done quite well over the French circuit with some great pace from time to time. This time around it'll be 4 V-LMDh cars in the garages which could be quite helpful for the American, but we must wait to find that out.

Peugeot has also suffered some struggles lately. A pretty slow start to the season in terms of results and their future still floating around means that they'll have to pick up the pace if they want to remain in the FIA WEC. 2024 was a pretty bad year for the French lion at Le Mans as they lacked a lot of pace during the weekend. That however seems like it won't matter that much, with a quite drastic 9kg taken away from them compared to last year's 24H of Le Mans. That change means they officially have the biggest BoP change compared to last year, and in a positive way too. Writer's prediction? Keep an eye out for them, I truly think that they will be this year's underdogs...

And finally in the Hypercar class we have the newcomers Aston Martin. If we are completely honest, no one should expect anything from them this time around. As much as that V12 roars and makes people fall in love with the sound, it cannot make up for the car's lack of performance. While we saw a positive effect at the last race in Spa getting closer to the points, it still seems quite the longshot to think that they will be fighting for a Top 10 at Le Mans…

Now, while all eyes are looking at the Hypercar class, it isn't the only class that will race at Le Mans this year…

First we have the second prototype class, LMP2. While it has now pretty much become a single-make class, it uses one of the best racing cars ever built, the Oreca 07 LMP2. Now, the LMP2s will be a weird sight for those who watch the FIA WEC normally as they do not race there full-time. Their story goes a long way back, but long story short, they will race at Le Mans this year. Not only that, but they are also divided in two subdivisions, Pro and Pro/Am.

Usually there are some favourites for the win, and this year is no exception. In the Pro division we have two clear favourites in the #18 IDEC Sport driven by Jamie Chadwick, Mathys Jaubert and André Lotterer, as well as the #22 United Autosports driven by Renger Van der Zande, Pietro Fittipaldi and David Heinemeier. Meanwhile in the Pro/Am class there are also some big names and favourites in the #29 TDS Racing with Rodrigo Sales, Mathias Beche and Clément Novalak, and in the #23 United Autosport with Daniel Schneider, Oliver Jarvis and Ben Hanley at the wheel.

And finally in the racing classes we have LMGT3. This season has been surprisingly level in this category, mainly due to Porsche's drop off compared to last year's domination over the rest of the field. Arriving at Le Mans it's currently the #33 TF Sport Corvette which leads the way. However, Ferrari have been quicker lately, including a win in the last race with the #21 AF Corse. Not only that, but the Akkodis ASP Lexus outfit have shocked most of the paddock this season, taking a 3rd place at Imola and another 4th place at Qatar with the #78 car.

It seems like LMGT3 has finally reached a point where it is nearly impossible to predict who might come out on top on each race weekend (without including Mercedes' problems during their year back in the FIA WEC), so predicting who might come out on at Le Mans could be harder than winning a game of bingo in a lost town in the middle of Spain.

The tension is rising as well as the excitement too as we get closer to the 93rd edition of the 24H of Le Mans. Everything is still up in the air with fans and teams both hoping for yet another Le Mans classic.