Peugeot downbeat after final Le Mans test: “We don’t…

Last on the timesheets after the first day of running at the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans, Loïc Duval did not mince his words when discussing the expected performance of the Peugeot 9X8 on the Circuit de la Sarthe.

Peugeot ended the Le Mans Test Day with their cars in distant 19th and 21st positions, more than three seconds off the benchmark time set by Brendon Hartley in the No. 8 Toyota GR010 HYBRID, who clocked a 3:26.246.

Although the day was interrupted several times — including a full course yellow and three red flags in the afternoon session alone — Loïc Duval, driver of the No. 94 Peugeot 9X8 (which finished last in this first round of testing), stated that the French team was still able to complete its preparation program without issue.

“It went as planned, we didn’t have any particular problems,” he told Motorsport at the end of the day. “We tested different setups and tire types that we wanted to try, to get a sense of what we could do and understand the various operating windows. We completed the number of stints we had planned to ensure everything holds up for next week. Overall, it went smoothly.”

“We’re not surprised”

#94 Peugeot Totalenergies Peugeot 9x8: Loic Duval, Malthe Jakobsen, Stoffel Vandoorne (Photo by: Nikolaz Godet)

However, while acknowledging that the test sessions are not fully representative, the French driver was very frank about the current competitiveness of Peugeot’s Hypercars, which are clearly not at the level to challenge for victory, the podium, or even the top five.

“We’re lacking a bit in terms of performance,” he admitted bluntly. “The regulations for the 24 Hours of Le Mans are different from those of the WEC, and we knew it would be tough, so we’re not surprised.”

When asked to clarify his rather direct comments, Duval doubled down, saying he was simply being realistic about Peugeot’s pace: “We’re doing everything we can to extract the most from our package — with strategies and everything.

”But now, if you ask me: ‘If the race started tomorrow, and everyone runs the same race without issues, using the same strategy, would you win?’ No, we wouldn’t. Right now, we don’t have the performance, that’s just how it is.

“We’re not surprised, we expected this. It’s a reality — but that doesn’t mean we’re giving up. We’re trying everything. We’re optimizing what we have, scraping for tenths of a second, aiming to be efficient in traffic, making the right strategic choices. We’ll also see what the race conditions bring and whether there’s anything we can take advantage of. But in terms of pure pace, objectively speaking, we’re too far off to say we can win the 24 Hours of Le Mans.”

Still, it’s only the first day of running — could the French manufacturer improve during the rest of the practice sessions before Sunday? “It probably won’t change, even after next week’s sessions,” Duval concluded.