Fernando Alonso attended the evening as a newly-crowned four-time FIA world champion thanks to his one title in karting (1996) and two in Formula 1 (2005 and 2006). Sébastien Buemi celebrated his second world title in endurance after the one he shared five years ago with Anthony Davidson. Kazuki Nakajima was lauded as a pioneer, the first Japanese driver to be crowned an FIA world champion.

"I am happy to make it happen, but this is not the end of the story. My target is to come back here again as a world champion," said Nakajima, the first Japanese multiple-winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. "We needed to finish second at Le Mans this year to get the title, but who knows what can happen, I can tell you. It was a very tough season, the battle was always close." Recall at the very end of this year's race, a mechanical problem slowed teammates Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López just as they were on their way to winning, relegating them to the second step on the overall podium. 

PHOTOS ABOVE: PARIS (FRANCE), CARROUSEL DU LOUVRE, FIA PRIZE-GIVING, FRIDAY 6 DECEMBER 2019. Fernando Alonso and Sébastien Buemi recreate the photo directly below it of their first 2018 win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans when Kazuki Nakajima was at the wheel.

For the two wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima welcomed a new teammate, none other than Fernando Alonso, to succeed Anthony Davidson. "They have the experience, they taught me a lot about endurance racing, the car, long-distance races…I was the man who asked many questions," admitted Alonso whose performance during the night at the 2018 24 Hours earned praise from Buemi. "This was the key moment at Le Mans. I remember I had a penalty. When I went to bed we were almost a lap down and when I woke up Fernando was just behind the sister car. During the night, we're on the low end of the tire use spectrum and so sometimes it's difficult to make them react. And we know Fernando puts a lot of energy into his tires, which allows him to get the most out of them and be extremely competitive at night. It's about his driving style and it makes the difference compared to daytime conditions."

"There were some windows when it was better and it was not in some others, so we had to find the rightest balance on the track," added Alonso. For the two-time F1 world champion and now two-time Le Mans winner, the next races are Dakar in the Saudi Arabian sand dunes and the the Indianapolis 500 on the oval in the U.S. He holds fond memories of his time in endurance racing. "The friendship with the guys you share the car with and the guys of the other car, all of this is unique and I cannot compare this to anything else. I had no stress because I knew they would to do the right thing when they were at the wheel."

Fernando Alonso, Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima have now become the fifth driver line-up to win both the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the world title since the inception of the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2012, after Marcel Fässler-André Lotterer-Benoît Tréluyer (2012), Loïc Duval-Tom Kristensen-Allan McNish (2013), Romain Dumas-Marc Lieb-Neel Jani (2016) and Timo Bernhard-Brendon Hartley-Earl Bamber (2017). Will there be a sixth during next year's FIA prize-giving scheduled in Munich on 11 December 2020? The start of the 88th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans will be given on 14 June 2020 at 16:00.

PHOTO ABOVE: LE MANS (FRANCE). During the handprint ceremony for the winners of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.