Ferrari to start Le Mans 24 Hours lighter, more…

Ferrari will go the grid for the Le Mans 24 Hours lighter and with more power than last year as it bids for a hat-trick at the French enduro.

The Italian manufacturer’s 499P Le Mans Hypercar will race at the World Endurance Championship double-points round on 14/15 June with a minimum weight reduced by 1kg to 1042kg and maximum power increased by 7kW (9bhp) to 515kW (690bhp) compared with 2024.

But the Ferrari will lose 2.9% in power above 250km/h (155mph) under the power gain element of the Balance of Performance introduced at Le Mans last year as further tool to level playing field in the WEC’s Hypercar class. Last year its power gain figure was -1.7%.

The figures for the Ferrari in the Le Mans BoP table for the Hypercar class made public on Thursday evening ahead of Sunday’s Le Mans Test Day represent a significant swing since the last WEC race at Spa in May.

It ran at 1057kg and 489kW as the factory AF Corse Ferrari team completed a clean sweep of victories in the three rounds of the series so far.

Le Mans is described as having its 'own BoP' by WEC organisers the Automobile Club de l’Ouest and the FIA courtesy of the unique nature of the 8.47-mile Circuit de la Sarthe.

Whereas the BoP for the regular WEC races is derived from a calculation based on race averages and fastest laps from the previous three rounds, the organisers primarily use simulation for Le Mans.

#51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi (Photo by: Rainier Ehrhardt)

Toyota, which has finished runner-up to Ferrari in the 24 Hours in each of the past two years, has also received a significant power hike since 2024.

Its GR010 HYBRID LMH will race at the Hypercar maximum of 520kW (697bhp) compared with 508kW (681bhp) at Le Mans last year.

That represents a jump of 40kW or 54bhp from last month’s Spa round when the Toyota’s maximum power was 480kW.

Weight for the Toyota is unchanged at 1053kg from last year, but the new minimum for the Japanese car is down 16kg from Spa.

Cadillac and Alpine’s LMDh challengers have also received power increases since Le Mans last year, their V-Series.R and A424s respectively up by 8kW and 10kW.

Porsche’s 963 LMDh will again race at 511kW, while Peugeot’s 9X8 2024 LMH has lost 1kW and the BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDh has gained 2kW.

Weight for the LMDhs had swung by no more than 1kg year on year, but the Peugeot is down 8kg from 12 months ago.

#6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor (Photo by: Marc Fleury)

The Peugeot has figures of 1039kg and 507kW, which represents a significant change from Spa where the 9X8 raced at the minimum class weight of 1030kg and the maximum class power of 520kW.

Aston Martin’s Valkyrie LMH remains at 1030kg and 520kW as at Spa.

Porsche and BMW are the only manufacturers that will be able to use more power above 250km/h.

The 963, which struggled for straightline speed last year, has a +1.4% figure under power gain and the M Hybrid +2.0%.

The guidelines for the BoP agreed with the manufacturers do not allow for changes between the Test Day and race week and there have been no revisions over the past two years.

Track running at Le Mans begins with a pair of three-hour sessions at the Test Day on 8 June.

Free practice for the 93rd edition of Le Mans begins at 14:00 local time on 11 June, with the first sessions of the new qualifying system kicking off at 18:45 local time.