Ferrari wins Le Mans, analysis: the 499P is now a mature car | FP

By Carlo Platella
Repeating the success of 2023 was almost as difficult as witnessing a 24-hour event even more vibrant than that of the Centenary. For the second consecutive year Ferrari is the queen of Le Mans, with a 499P never as convincing as in the last two months. Toyota consoles itself with an excellent performance, with the awareness however that returning to the top step of the podium in the future with the dated GR010 will not be an easy task. It’s a Le Mans that leaves a bitter aftertaste for Porsche, which however has something to cheer about when looking at the picture it was in twelve months ago.

A human race

It is almost difficult to draw technical conclusions about Le Mans 2024. The French marathon was a race dominated by the weather but above all by the human factor, expressed both in the sensitivity of the drivers in driving in the wet and in the risks and strategic calls of the pit walls. The final twist then, with Nicklas Nielsen in energy saving mode on the #50 to avoid a refueling, encapsulates all the spirit of a race in which improvisation and humanity were the protagonists.

On a competitive level, the 24 hours was characterized by balance, with a fight on equal terms between four manufacturers, who not by chance coincide with those with at least a year of experience behind them. The credit also goes to a minimally invasive Balance of Performance, kept to a minimum and intervened only to smooth out the homologation characteristics of the cars. A choice that highlighted the value of each individual project, as well as the work carried out by the teams.

Ferrari, there is more than the straight

In the context of great balance appreciated at Le Mans, it would be wrong to say that Ferrari dominated the French marathon. However, the 499Ps consistently expressed a pace in line with the top of the class at times the best ever, especially in dry track conditions. Compared to 2023, however, the Cavallino had to deal with increased competition from Porsche and Cadillac, now more experienced, also seeing its weight advantage compared to Toyota reduced.

Further complicating the work for the Reds was the new BoP, which for the first time introduced an appreciable power correction above 250 km/h, intended to smooth out the distances on the straight. The 499P’s advantage on the straight has not completely disappearedo, but it certainly has shrunk, especially in comparison with Toyota. However, it is precisely these small obstacles that have highlighted the other qualities that the Maranello Hypercar had to rely on.

The Red has now in the tire management one of its strong points, without however giving up speed in qualifying, where in fact the 499Ps monopolized the second row. Ferrari also did not suffer from the abolition of tire heaters, managing to bring them up to temperature despite one of the coldest Le Mans ever. If we add to these qualities the fact that the Cavallino had already expressed a pace worthy of victory at Spa and Imola, the picture emerges in which the 499P is no longer a super-fast car suitable only for Le Mans, but what can it say? his also from a championship perspective.

The honor of arms goes to Toyota

For the second consecutive year the world champions missed out on the most important race, despite putting on a top-level performance. Once again the pit wall stands out, capable of reactively interpreting changes in the weather and dealing with technical unforeseen events, such as the visibility problem that slowed down car #7 on Sunday morning. Where Toyota impressed however was in the final stints in the wet with Jose Maria Lopez at the wheel, expressing by far the fastest pace on the track.

Although the GR010s competed on equal terms with the Reds, some doubts are starting to arise from a future perspective. The Japanese Hypercar It’s the oldest car on the grid, designed for regulations that originally promised to be very different. The fear is that, while the competition still has plenty of room to grow, Toyota has little residual potential to extract from the pack. The question then is what to do in the future. With the extension of the Hypercar regulations until 2029, thinking about a new car for 2026 appears to be a viable option, unless one wants to focus on the new hydrogen program, expected for 2028, and enhance the GR010 with the two development tokens more announced by the ACO on Friday.

LMDh ever closer

The world leader Porsche, highly anticipated on the eve, finishes at the foot of the podium. There were different expectations for the official 963 after the exploits at the beginning of the championship and the pole position on Thursday, but it should not be forgotten where the Zuffenhausen manufacturer came from. In 2023 in fact Porsche was living a nightmare Le Mansconditioned primarily by reliability problems, which now appear like a distant memory.

In terms of performance, the official cars #5 and #6 took turns in keeping up with the superpowers Ferrari and Toyota, even leading the race for several hours. The 963s paid for a certain lack of speed on the straight, despite recording the absolute record thanks to the slipstream, a condition shared with Cadillac. General Motors’ Dallaras have long been part of the leading group, but with the impression that they still had to find something before they could compete for it. For Cadillac as for Porsche, the updates arriving between the end of this year and the beginning of next will be an opportunity to close the gap.

Lamborghini surprise

There is another beautiful, all-Italian story at Le Mans. Making its debut in the 24 hours Lamborghini claws a top-10 finish, making the most of enviable reliability with both cars and finishing ahead of Peugeot. The lag in performance from the top is evident, but as demonstrated by the path followed by Porsche and Cadillac, competitiveness will be a natural consequence of experience. A mirror image instead for the Alpines, both already able to stay glued to the leading group in the very first hours, however betrayed by engine failures. Those of the French cars are the only evident reliability problems that emerged at Le Mans, together with the electrical blackout of the Ferrari #83, faults absent even on the small but Isotta Fraschini is excellent. It is the sign of a discipline that has now changed compared to the past, which has gone from being a survival race to a wonderful sprint race spread over 24 hours.