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Le Mans 24 Hours: Kubica's Ferrari tops final practice

Ferrari topped a session for the first time at the 2025 Le Mans 24 Hours after Robert Kubica set the pace in final practice.

After the trio of 499P LMHs failed to impress during qualifying, Kubica's #83 customer Ferrari was fastest in the one-hour night FP4 session on Thursday, setting a 3m26.523s with around 20 minutes to go.

That time was nearly a second quicker than the 3m27.456s that Miguel Molina clocked in the #50 Ferrari 10 minutes beforehand.

A late full-course yellow when Daniel Schneider's #23 United Autosports ORECA-Gibson 07 stopped on the Mulsanne Straight restricted the potential for any further improvements.

Having secured a front-row lockout earlier in the evening, two Cadillacs were next fastest, the #311 Action Express-run V-Series.R LMDh of Felipe Drugovich posting a 3m27.780s, while the #38 Jota car of Jenson Button was a tenth slower on 3m27.893s.

The top five was completed by the best of the Porsche Penske Motorsport crews, the #6 963 LMDh of Laurens Vanthoor registering a 3m27.919s.

#38 Cadillac Hertz Team Jota Cadillac V-Series.R: Earl Bamber, Sébastien Bourdais, Jenson Button (Photo by: AG Photo)

The polesitting #12 Jota Cadillac was sixth fastest thanks to a 3m27.991s from Norman Nato, while the third of the Ferraris was seventh with Antonio Giovinazzi at the wheel.

The top 10 was rounded out by the #5 Porsche, the best of the Toyotas – the #8 GR010 HYBRID LMH – and then the pick of the Alpine A424 LMDhs, the #35 crew.

Peugeot and Aston Martin occupied the bottom places of the Hypercar field, although the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDh failed to register a representative lap time.

VDS Panis Racing set the LMP2 pace from the midpoint of the session, Esteban Masson registering a 3m38.302s in the #48 ORECA.

Clement Novalak was six tenths adrift in second in the #29 TDS entry on a 3m38.934s, while Matthieu Vaxiviere was third on a 3m38.975s for AF Corse.

Lexus returned to its regular top spot in the LMGT3 division with Jose Maria Lopez posting a 3m55.057s in the #87 ASP RC F shortly before the FCY.

#87 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F LMGT3: Petru Umbrarescu, José Maria Lopez, Clemens Schmid (Photo by: AG Photo)

Aston Martin was second fastest, over a second slower, courtesy of Eduardo Barrichello in the Prodrive-run Racing Spirit of Leman entry on a 3m56.225s.

The #54 Ferrari that spun out of the opening Hyperpole session earlier had topped the times courtesy of a 3m56.433s from Davide Rigon but was then relegated to third.

There was further strife for the Iron Lynx squad as its #63 Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 stopped on the Mulsanne Straight just minutes into the session.

This car had undergone a change in chassis after a hefty crash for Stephen Grove in opening practice on Wednesday, and its drivers have therefore not completed any night running ahead of Saturday's race.

Le Mans 24 Hours - Free Practice 4 results

   
1
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4
   
   
1
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2
   
Cla Team # Drivers Car Laps Time Interval km/h
1
AF Corse HYPERCAR
83 Poland R. Kubica China Y. Yifei United Kingdom P. Hanson Ferrari 499P 10

3'26.523

  237.521
2
FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR
50 Italy A. Fuoco Denmark N. Nielsen Spain M. Molina Ferrari 499P 12

+0.933

3'27.456

0.933 236.453
3
Cadillac Whelen HYPERCAR
311 United Kingdom J. Aitken Brazil F. Drugovich Denmark F. Vesti Cadillac V-Series.R 12

+1.257

3'27.780

0.324 236.084
4
Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA HYPERCAR
38 New Zealand E. Bamber France S. Bourdais United Kingdom J. Button Cadillac V-Series.R 12

+1.370

3'27.893

0.113 235.955
5
PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR
6 France K. Estre Belgium L. Vanthoor Australia M. Campbell Porsche 963 15

+1.396

3'27.919

0.026 235.926
6
Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA HYPERCAR
12 United Kingdom W. Stevens France N. Nato United Kingdom A. Lynn Cadillac V-Series.R 10

+1.468

3'27.991

0.072 235.844
7
FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR
51 Italy A. Pier Guidi United Kingdom J. Calado Italy A. Giovinazzi Ferrari 499P 11

+1.626

3'28.149

0.158 235.665
8
PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR
5 France J. Andlauer Denmark M. Christensen France M. Jaminet Porsche 963 10

+1.808

3'28.331

0.182 235.459
9
Toyota Racing HYPERCAR
8 Switzerland S. Buemi New Zealand B. Hartley Japan R. Hirakawa Toyota GR010 - Hybrid 14

+1.809

3'28.332

0.001 235.458
10
Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR
35 France P. Chatin Austria F. Habsburg France C. Milesi Alpine A424 14

+1.823

3'28.346

0.014 235.442
In this article
Stephen Lickorish
WEC
Le Mans
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