24h Le Mans
In 2025, Ferrari-AF Corse won the FIA World Endurance Championship and claimed a third 24 Hours of Le Mans victory. Next year, the prancing horse will be back, ready to merit another chapter in the race annals.
2025 was the year of the 499P. The Italian team improved its consistency and fully deserved the FIA WEC manufacturer and driver titles. Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye and Phil Hanson’s win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans – the third in succession – earned the team the right to take the trophy home for good. As 2026 approaches, Ferrari is already preparing to defend its world title and hoping for four in a row at Le Mans in the increasingly competitive Hypercar class.
Ferrari-Af-Corse’s goal for 2025 was clear: to gain in consistency and win the world endurance championship. “We have made several organisational changes and continue to do so. I believe we have taken a crucial step forward, particularly in our technical knowledge of the car. Let’s remember that the technical development of the 499P took place in an exceptionally fast-paced and intense timeframe ahead of its race debut in 2023,” said Antonello Coletta, head of Ferrari Endurance and Corse Clienti at the start of this season.
Although the championship was the main goal, Ferrari was also bent on winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the third year running. The #83 499P, fielded privately by AF Corse and driven by Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye and Phil Hanson ticked that box. The “hat trick” earned Ferrari the right to keep the trophy – joining the happy few manufacturers Porsche, Audi and Toyota to have achieved the same feat. At 25, Yifei Ye is the first Chinese driver to win the race. "The 499P was fantastic, we were put in a position from the start to fight for the win. We also made up for last year’s bad luck, when we led the race for 83 laps, like the car number, but a technical problem forced us to retire. Winning Le Mans with Ferrari is something unique,” said the man who left home at the age of 14 to join the FFSA Academy. We are proud to say he passed his school exams and his driving test in Le Mans.
Ferrari-AF Corse demonstrated their superiority from the beginning of the championship season, with three wins in a row: Qatar 1812km, 6 Hours of Imola and the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa. The #51 499P, the only Hypercar to win two races in 2025, added the manufacturer and driver trophies to the Maranello silver cabinet. "We have fulfilled the dream of becoming world champions, working hard and with humility to reach this goal. In 2023, by winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans, we immediately realised the strength of the project, and the victories in France over the following two years confirmed that we were on the right path. We built this world success especially last winter, when we worked tirelessly to understand how to fully exploit the potential of this car. I would like to thank the whole Ferrari-AF Corse team and everyone who, both on the track and in Maranello from the remote garage, made it possible for us to experience this joy,” said Head of Endurance Race Cars Ferdinando Cannizzo after the Bapco Energie 8 Hours of Bahrain.
After such a successful year, the team can only pin high hopes on 2026. They will be defending their world title and aiming for a fourth consecutive triumph at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It wouldn’t be the first time: Ferrari won the race an impressive six times in a row between 1960 and 1965. Ford put an end to that streak in 1966, with the iconic GT40 Mk II. In a pleasing nod to the past, Ford will be back the highest level of endurance in 2027, fielding a Hypercar entry. In the meantime, Ferrari has plenty of other rivals to contend with: Alpine, Aston Martin, BMW, Cadillac, Genesis, Peugeot and Toyota.
We are lucky to be witnessing endurance history in the writing. So don’t miss the 94th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans (10-14 June 2026), round 4 of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship.
