Toyota has finally taken the Le Mans crown away from Ferrari, securing victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and proving itself against some of the biggest manufacturers in world motorsport. It was a masterful performance, particularly from the #7 Toyota of Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries, who overcame multiple challenges throughout the race.
Ferrari, meanwhile, was forced to surrender the throne after three consecutive years of success. However, the Maranello-based manufacturer can leave France with its head held high, having extracted everything possible from the package available.
The strategic masterstroke at the start
Despite starting from the midfield after what Toyota itself described as a “disappointing” qualifying session, the Japanese manufacturer adopted an aggressive opening strategy, similar to the approach that helped the #20 BMW secure victory at Spa.
By bringing their fuel stops forward compared to their rivals, the Toyota Hypercars were able to exploit clean air and clear track conditions to execute a powerful undercut. The move propelled the #8 Toyota to the front of the field, where it immediately displayed impressive pace and even set the fastest laps of the race before a series of setbacks disrupted the progress of both crews.
Safety Cars helped, but drivers and team sealed the result
A slow puncture forced the #7 Toyota into an additional pit stop, but relentless race pace, particularly during the morning hours, allowed it to work its way back into podium contention with six hours remaining.
Later, the Safety Car triggered by the accident involving Ayhancan Güven’s Porsche helped bring the #7 back into the fight at the front.
On the other side of the garage, the #8 Toyota initially led the race thanks to its alternative fuel strategy. However, an off-track excursion at Mulsanne during the ninth hour, a drive-through penalty during the night and approximately 30 seconds lost in the pits while repairing a brake drum fastening issue complicated its race considerably.
As a result, the responsibility of challenging the #20 BMW fell to the #7 crew.
The #8 crew fought hard to defend second place but eventually lost the position when Robin Frijns completed a strong overtaking move before the Porsche Curves, taking advantage of Sébastien Buemi running on older tyres.
Meanwhile, Kobayashi inherited the lead during the final sequence of pit stops. With Frijns trailing by around 20 seconds at the start of the final hour, the Japanese driver remained calm under pressure and guided the #7 Toyota to a memorable victory.
The victory that confirms Toyota’s greatness
This was a landmark success for Toyota, which combined consistent race pace with its renowned expertise in strategy and tyre management, including the effective execution of extended quadruple stints.
The Safety Cars certainly played in Toyota’s favour, but the Japanese manufacturer was quick to capitalise on every opportunity. It also benefited from having two competitive cars, unlike Cadillac and BMW, which were effectively fighting with a single contender each.
Now Toyota can legitimately claim to have won Le Mans against the strongest manufacturers in modern endurance racing, answering critics who often downplayed its victories between 2018 and 2022 because of the reduced level of factory competition during that period.
Ferrari surrenders the crown with honour
As for Ferrari, the manufacturer that seized the Le Mans crown in 2023 and defended it successfully for three consecutive years, it is fair to say that the Italian team extracted the maximum possible from this edition of the race.
The retirement of the #50 Ferrari 499P driven by Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina certainly damaged the overall outcome and affected both world championship standings. Nevertheless, it is difficult to imagine a significantly better result than the fifth-place finish achieved by the #51 Ferrari of Alessandro Pier Guidi, Antonio Giovinazzi and James Calado.
Their race was largely free of major setbacks. The only significant issue came when Pier Guidi received a drive-through penalty for contact with Jonas Ried’s Proton Competition LMP2 car in the opening-sector chicanes. Aside from that incident, the reigning world champions delivered a solid and disciplined performance.
BoP or not, Ferrari leaves with pride
Regardless of the ongoing debates surrounding the Balance of Performance regulations, Ferrari arrived at Le Mans with a Hypercar that lacked the major upgrades introduced by many of its rivals at the start of the season.
BMW, Cadillac and Toyota all brought significant developments, and those were the manufacturers that ultimately set the pace during the race.
The fact that Ferrari still managed to fight inside the top five despite those limitations only reinforces the strength of the 499P project, proving that the car remains highly competitive despite the passage of time and the rapid development of rival manufacturers.
One could argue that the Balance of Performance was far from generous to the reigning champion Hypercar. Had Ferrari enjoyed a particularly favourable BoP, it might have exposed weaknesses in the 499P. Instead, the car remained competitive and continues to be regarded as a benchmark by rivals throughout the paddock.
At the same time, everyone knew—perhaps Ferrari more than anyone—that both this Le Mans and the wider 2026 season would be largely about damage limitation before a major development package planned for 2027 allows the team to launch a fresh attack.
Ferrari’s reaction after the finish
Antonello Coletta, Global Head of Endurance and Corse Clienti, reflected on the result:
“We knew we could not fight for victory, but despite that we never became discouraged. Instead, we found additional motivation to optimise everything that was within our control. Stepping off the Le Mans podium after standing on it with all of our crews for three consecutive years does not make us happy, and we are aware that we did not execute the perfect race we had planned. However, we gave everything we had and there is very little we can blame ourselves for. This result motivates us to return to the positions that matter as quickly as possible.”
Ferdinando Cannizzo, Head of Endurance Race Cars, shared a similar view:
“We lost the race, but we demonstrated that we are a team, and that is the most important thing. From the very beginning we knew it would be extremely difficult, almost impossible, to be competitive. Unfortunately, after the opening laps that became very clear.”
“We continued until the end with dignity and in a manner worthy of the Prancing Horse, which is what matters most to us. This is what Ferrari is all about, and I hope we will soon have another opportunity to demonstrate what we are capable of. The championship is not over yet, although after this race it will certainly be a very difficult challenge.”
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