BMW returned to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2025 with renewed ambition and a two-car effort in the Hypercar category, hoping to build on its endurance racing momentum from the FIA World Endurance Championship. But while the Bavarian brand managed to keep both of its M Hybrid V8s running to the checkered flag, the team ultimately came up short—lacking the pace to challenge the front-running Ferraris and Porsche in a race that was long on consistency but short on chaos.
Customer Ferrari Outshines Factory Rivals
At the front, it was Robert Kubica who wrote the fairy tale. The former BMW-Sauber F1 driver, whose career comeback journey has spanned triumph and tragedy, guided the #83 AF Corse-entered Ferrari 499P to a remarkable overall victory. Flanked by co-drivers Phil Hanson and Yifei Ye, Kubica became the first Polish driver to win overall at Le Mans, while Ye made history as the first Chinese victor in the event’s 101-year history.
Though the #83 is a customer Ferrari, it ran on equal technical footing with the works #50 and #51 entries. On Sunday morning, Kubica took charge of his own destiny, asking to be let by the #51 car of Antonio Giovinazzi, arguing he had more pace and had supported other Ferrari efforts earlier in the race. The request was granted, and the #83 never looked back.
Porsche Fights Back from the Rear
Behind them, Porsche’s charge came from deep in the field. Kevin Estre in the #6 Penske Porsche mounted a ferocious pursuit that saw the car claw back from the rear of the Hypercar grid to finish just 14.7 seconds behind the winning Ferrari—an admirable but ultimately fruitless chase.
Ferrari’s 12th Le Mans win places the marque just one behind Audi’s 13 in the all-time standings, with Porsche still far ahead on 19. The final podium spot was taken by the #51 factory Ferrari, while the defending champions in the #50 machine—Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, and Nicklas Nielsen—were told to hold station and came home fourth after fading on Sunday morning.
Cadillac’s pole-sitting #12 entry dropped to fifth, and Toyota—once the dominant force—could only manage sixth with its #7 GR010 Hybrid. Former F1 champion Jenson Button, making his Le Mans return in the #38 Action Express Cadillac, finished eighth, while Mick Schumacher’s #36 Alpine brought up 12th in a tough debut.
No Luck For BMW. Again
BMW’s own Hypercar effort never truly ignited. Early hopes of a solid top-ten finish began to unravel in the final hours. First, the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8—sharing driving duties between Robin Frijns, René Rast, and Sheldon van der Linde—was forced into the garage for a 37-minute repair to address an engine-related issue. It rejoined the race but finished 18th overall.
Minutes later, the sister #15 car—driven by Raffaele Marciello, Marco Wittmann, and Dries Vanthoor—encountered persistent hybrid cooling issues, leading to multiple long stops that dropped it to the back of the Hypercar field. It crossed the finish line 26 laps adrift, classified as the last of the Hypercar finishers.
LMGT3: BMW M4 GT3 Shows Promise Despite #46 Crash
In the LMGT3 class, BMW’s fortunes were mixed. Team WRT fielded two M4 GT3 Evo entries—the #46 car driven by Ahmad Al Harthy, Valentino Rossi, and Kelvin van der Linde, and the #31 car piloted by Yasser Shahin, Timur Boguslavskiy, and Augusto Farfus. The #46 machine, which had qualified on class pole, was forced to retire in the night after a high-speed crash at the Porsche Curves. Rossi’s dream of a Le Mans podium came to an abrupt end, though the car had shown frontrunning pace early on.
Redemption came in the form of the #31 car, which stayed in the fight through the full 24 hours and ultimately finished second in class, just behind the winning Manthey EMA Porsche. The M4 GT3 Evo completed 341 laps and proved a competitive package in its Le Mans debut, showing improved drivability and efficiency following its 2025 update.
For BMW, it was a weekend of near-misses and “what ifs.” Both Hypercars saw promising runs end in frustration, and although the M4 GT3 salvaged a podium, the brand will leave Le Mans still chasing its first overall victory in the Hypercar era.
As the sun set over the Circuit de la Sarthe, the moment belonged to Kubica—returning to the top step of a major international podium for the first time since his 2008 Canadian Grand Prix victory with BMW-Sauber. And while BMW’s endurance project continues to evolve, Le Mans 2025 will be remembered more for history made by others than success seized by Munich.
First published by https://www.bmwblog.com
