In 2025, BMW returned to the 24 hours of Le Mans, with another ambition and a two-car effort in the Hypercar category, in the hope of building on the dynamics of the FIAM World of the Fia World on its dynamics of the FIA World Endurance Championship. But while the Bavarian brand managed to keep both Mybrid V8s on the checkered flag, the team finally came up with the pace to challenge the front Ferraris and Porsche in a race that was constant for the chaos, but shortly before chaos.
Customer Ferrari exceeds the factory rival
At the front it was Robert Kubica who wrote the fairy tale. The former BMW-Sauber F1 driver, whose comeback journey has crossed triumph and tragedy, led the #83 AF Corse-introduced Ferrari 499P to a remarkable overall victory. Kubica, flanked by the passenger Phil Hanson and Yifei Ye, was the first Polish driver to win overall in Le Mans, while Ye wrote history as the first Chinese winner in the 101-year history of the event.
Although No. 83 is a customer Ferrari, he ran with the works #50 and #51 entries of the same technical tasks. On Sunday morning, Kubica took responsibility for his own fate and asked to dismiss the No. 51 car from Antonio Giovinazzi, argued that he had more speed and had supported other Ferrari efforts earlier in the race. The application was granted and the #83 never looked back.
Porsche fights back from behind
Behind them came Porsche’s indictment from the depths on the field. Kevin Estre in the #6 Penske Porsche made a wild persecution in which the car was turned back from the back of the Hypercar network to end only 14.7 seconds behind the winner Ferrari – an admirable but ultimately fruitless chase.
Ferraris 12. Le Mans only wins one behind Audi’s 13 in the all -time ranking, with Porsche being far ahead on the 19th. The last podium was taken over by the Ferrari #51 factory, while the defending champions on the #50-machine antonio fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicks Nicks Niels Niels Niels Niels Niels with the economy and the Hom-Hom-Hom-Hom-Hom-Hom-Hom track.
The #12 entry from Cadillac was fifth, and Toyota-on the dominant power-could with its #7 GR010 hybrid only master the sixth place. The former F1 champion Jenson Button, who returned his Le Mans in the #38 Action Express Cadillac, took eighth place, while Mick Schumacher’s #36 Alpine took 12th place in a hard debut.
No luck for BMW. Again
BMW’s own hypercar effort has never really ignited. The early hopes for a solid top ten finish began to be disguised in the past few hours. First, the BMW M MyBrid V8 #20, which was forced to fix the areas between Robin Frijns, René Rast and Sheldon van der Linde in the garage for a 37-minute repair to fix an engine problem. The race came back, but was 18th place.
Minutes later, the car -15 car, which was stood by Raffaele Marciello, Marco Wittmann and Dries Vanthoor, persistent hybrid cooling problems, which led to several long stops that dropped the back of the Hypercar field. It crossed the finish line 26 rounds, which was the last of the Hypercar finishers.
LMGT3: BMW M4 GT3 shows despite #46 crash
BMW’s assets were mixed in the LMGT3 class. The WRT team presented two M4 GT3 EVO entries -the #46 car driven by Ahmad Al Harthy, Valentino Rossi and Kelvin van der Linde and that of Yasser Shahin, Timur Boguslavskiy and Augusto Farfus piloted car #31. The #46 machine that had qualified on the class rod had to retire in the night after a high-speed accident. Rossi’s dream of a Le Mans podium ended abruptly, although the car had shown early before the pace.
The redemption came in the form of No. 31 car, which stayed in the fight over the full 24 hours and finally took second place in class behind the winner Manthey Ema Porsche. The M4 GT3 EVO has completed 341 rounds and has shown a competitive package in the debut in Le Mans, which, after its update from 2025, shows improved driveability and efficiency.
For BMW it was a weekend with almost crushes and “what if.” Both hypercars saw promising runs in frustration, and although the M4 GT3 saved a podium, the Le Mans brand will still have its first overall victory in the Hypercar era.
When the sun went down over the racetrack of de la Sarthe, the moment Kubica and first time since its Canadian Grand Prix victory by Canadian Grand Prix with BMW-Sauber was the first step of a large international podium. And while the endurance project of BMW is developing, Le Mans 2025 will be remembered more for the history, which has been created by the success of other successes than Munich.
