Comments ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2025

The week of the 93rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans – round four of the FIA World Endurance Championship – is now in full swing at the Circuit de La Sarthe in France. The race kicks off on Saturday, 14 June, at 4 p.m. local time.

Following Sunday’s Test Day, the Ferrari – AF Corse team is preparing for the most anticipated event of the season, seeking to secure another podium finish at Le Mans after consecutive victories in 2024 with Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, and Nicklas Nielsen in the number 50 499P, and in 2023 with Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, and Antonio Giovinazzi in the number 51 car.

In the meantime, motorsport fans can relive the excitement of the previous World Championship round at Spa-Francorchamps in May – which ended in a Ferrari one-two – in the latest episode of the web series “Full Access: The Red Line”, now available on Ferrari’s official YouTube channel.

On this platform, Tifosi can also revisit last year’s remarkable result in France, a first and third-place overall finish for the Prancing Horse, in “24 Hours in 24 Minutes”, a compelling video that tells the story of the race hour by hour, complete with exclusive interviews and previously unseen footage.

Here are the comments ahead of the most anticipated race of the season.

Antonio Fuoco, 499P #50: “We’ve done well in the first three rounds of the year so far, but the championship is still long; we need to be humbled and focused. In every race, it’s essential to capitalise on our potential and aim to score as many points as possible, especially at Le Mans, where double points are awarded. Expectations for the 24 Hours? We know it’s the most challenging race of the season. Every year, we arrive at Le Mans with a different kind of pressure. In 2023, it was linked to our return to the top class after half a century. In 2024, we came here as defending winners. This year, the pressure comes from being at the top of the Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ World Championship standings. That’s part of what Le Mans is all about – but so far, we’ve shown we know how to handle these situations in the best possible way.” 

Miguel Molina, 499P #50: “I’m very pleased with the first part of the season, particularly because the results in Qatar, Italy and Belgium show how well we worked over the winter. Now, we need to keep going and pick up as many points as possible at Le Mans. After our victory in 2024, it will be incredibly exciting to race on this track again in front of an extraordinary crowd. We’ll give it our best shot, and I hope we’ll be in the contest for the top places when, in the final hours, the outcome of the race is decided.”

Nicklas Nielsen, 499P #50: “The goal for this race, as always, is to give it our all in pursuit of victory. We know that securing a third consecutive Ferrari win won’t be easy, but we’ll do everything we can to make it happen. It will be a long and complex race, but we know we’re a strong team that has grown enormously since our Hypercar debut. We have an excellent car, so I’m confident we’ll be among the frontrunners in the contest for the top positions.”

Alessandro Pier Guidi, 499P #51: “We’ve had a fantastic start to the season. In the first three races, we were adept at maximising our results by making the most of the 499P’s potential and avoiding any mistakes. We arrive at Le Mans buoyed by these results and our victories here in France in the last two editions. People may see us as favourites in this race, but I believe this race will be very tough, as it always is, and winning again is a challenging task. That said, we hope to climb the podium and the highest step of all.”

James Calado, 499P #51: “After a great start to the season, we’re confident we can compete for the World Championship. As we all know, Le Mans is a crucial race, awarding twice the points of a standard round. As always, we will do our best and hope for victory, but the key will be to secure top positions and earn valuable points for the World Championship standings. Performing well at Le Mans depends on many factors. One of the most important, as a team, is to get both cars to the finish line while avoiding any mistakes that could cause damage in such a long and demanding race.”

Antonio Giovinazzi, 499P #51: “We arrive at Le Mans on a high after Ferrari’s three wins in the first part of the season, including our crew’s two victories at Imola and Spa. We know that we are arriving at Le Mans having improved in every area compared to previous years. After back-to-back wins at the 24 Hours, we’ll try to repeat that performance this year, but I think that, alongside aiming for victory, we also need to be smart in how we maximise our result, with our main goal for 2025 in mind: winning the World Championship.”

Antonello Coletta, Global Head of Ferrari Endurance and Corse Clienti: “The balance of the championship so far can only be viewed positively, with a hat-trick in Qatar, first and fourth place in front of our Tifosi in the Italian round at Imola, and a one-two finish at Spa – a result made even more meaningful by the complexity of a race that was anything but straightforward.

Now, all eyes are on the most important event in the FIA World Endurance Championship, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. We arrive in France after securing two consecutive victories with both Ferrari – AF Corse crews: to win again and achieve a third consecutive victory would be a dream. We’ve done everything possible to turn up at the 24 Hours fully prepared, aware that – as tradition dictates – this race is never easy. What’s more, the level of competition is increasing, with more rivals capable of contending for the top positions, and there will be more cars on track than in any other round. Le Mans remains the world’s greatest race, and I’m sure it will once again prove to be the most demanding of all.”

Ferdinando Cannizzo, Head of Endurance Race Cars: “Le Mans is the most important event of the season. We head to France with the same strategy we’ve adopted over the past two years. We’ve reviewed and analysed every area where improvements could be made compared to 2023 and 2024 – the same method we used to prepare for this season’s opening three races in Qatar, Italy and Belgium, where we achieved strong results on circuits with very different layouts and technical features.

Preparations for Le Mans have focused not only on the 499P but also on the team’s overall readiness, including the execution of race operations. We are confident we can achieve a strong result, though we're aware the competition will remain as fierce as ever this year, with many rivals contending for top positions.”