The 94th 24 Hours of Le Mans starts at 16:00 local time on Saturday, and for the first time in this Hypercar era Ferrari arrive looking genuinely vulnerable. Three wins on the bounce since 2023, yet the car that won last year — the No. 83 AF Corse 499P of Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye and Phil Hanson — will line up 17th of 18 after missing the Hyperpole cut in Wednesday's qualifying. The streak is alive, but it is under siege.
How the week runs
Race week follows its familiar rhythm. The test day came and went on Sunday, first practice and qualifying filled Wednesday evening, and tonight's Hyperpole sessions settle the grid for all three classes. Friday belongs to the drivers' parade through town; Saturday opens with a midday warm-up before the start at 16:00 CEST — 3pm in the UK — and the flag falls at the same hour on Sunday. Sixty-two cars take the start, 18 of them in Hypercar, representing eight manufacturers.
The championship picture
Le Mans is round three of eight this season, after the postponed Qatar opener handed Imola the curtain-raiser in April. Toyota's No. 8 won there; BMW's No. 20 took Spa — the M Hybrid V8's first world championship victory — and René Rast, Robin Frijns and Sheldon van der Linde bring the drivers' points lead to La Sarthe, with BMW top of the manufacturers' table too. Ferrari, winners of the last three editions of this race, have yet to win anywhere in 2026.
One thing to watch per manufacturer
- Ferrari — the recovery. The No. 83 starts near the back and the factory 499Ps only scraped into Hyperpole. If the streak survives, it will be earned the hard way.
- Toyota — the rebranded TR001 Hybrid, heavily reworked over the winter, won Imola at a canter. A first Sarthe victory since 2022 is a live possibility.
- BMW — arrive as championship leaders with momentum from Spa. No overall Le Mans win since 1999; this is their best chance yet.
- Cadillac — three V-Series.Rs, and all of them quick: second, third and fifth in Wednesday's session, with Sébastien Bourdais in the Jota-run No. 38. The pace is proven; 24 clean hours are not.
- Alpine — Ferdinand Habsburg's 3:23.135 was the fastest lap of the week so far. The home team has never looked sharper in the Hypercar era.
- Aston Martin — both Valkyries made Hyperpole. The only non-hybrid in the class is now genuinely in the fight rather than making up the numbers.
- Genesis — the debutants put both GMR-001s through to Hyperpole at their first attempt, with three-time winner André Lotterer anchoring the No. 17.
- Peugeot — a grim Wednesday left both 9X8s locked out, 16th and 18th. The home crowd will be willing them forward from the first lap.
And the absence: no Porsche in the top class at all following the factory's withdrawal from Hypercar — a strange sight at a race the marque has won 19 times.
The LMGT3 fight
Porsche still has plenty to defend further down the order. The No. 92 Manthey entry of Riccardo Pera, Richard Lietz and Yasser Shahin leads the LMGT3 standings after two rounds that produced two different winners — WRT's BMW at Imola, Garage 59's McLaren at Spa. Add the Ford Mustang GT3 making its Le Mans debut as a full WEC entry with Proton, and Corvette back in the hands of TF Sport, and the class is as open as the headline act.
If this is your first Le Mans
Don't try to watch all of it. The hours that matter most: the opening stint, dusk on Saturday, one full night stint to feel the rhythm, dawn — when tired drivers meet cold tyres — and the final two hours. Pick one car per class and follow its number all weekend. Watch how slow zones and safety cars reshuffle the gaps, because this race is rarely decided by raw pace; it is decided by traffic, weather and restraint. And if the No. 83 Ferrari is anywhere near the lead by Sunday morning, you are watching one of the great comeback drives.