Ferrari end 58-year wait to win Le Mans 24 Hours in chaotic Centenary event

Ferrari made a triumphant return to Le Mans as Britain’s James Calado led the team to victory in the Centenary edition of the 24 Hours.

Sharing his No 51 Ferrari 499P with his long-time team-mate Alessandro Pier Guidi and former Grand Prix driver Antonio Giovanizzi, the crew held off the pre-race favourites Toyota to take Ferrari’s first win at the race since 1965.

It was an unexpected result for the team given that the car only tested for the first time last July, that this was the first time that Ferrari had raced at Le Mans as a factory in the top prototype class since 1973, and that Toyota, which had won every Le Mans since 2018, arrived at Le Mans having also dominated the first three races of the FIA World Endurance Championship with its GR010.

Yet after basketball star LeBron James waved the French Tricolor to send the cars on their way 100 years after the first running of the Le Mans 24 hours, Ferrari hardly put a foot - or a wheel - out of place despite changeable weather conditions on Saturday night causing havoc for many competitors.

Several drivers were caught out by sudden showers that swept only part of the circuit, leading to accidents that took out some of the front runners in each of the classes. Ferrari took a conservative approach to the first 12 hours, preferring to protect the car in difficult driving conditions, and then attacked in the second half of the race.

Ferrari silence reliability questions

Ferrari knew that they had the pace over one lap and it was no surprise to see the two 499Ps on the front row after qualifying in France. However, there were questions about the reliability of the new car after the failure of the hybrid system at Portimao in April. High rear tyre wear at each of the hot races were also a feature of the car that was expected to take it out of the running for the win, but ultimately those fears proved to be unfounded.

The team moved the front of the grid around mid-distance, after Pier Guidi had spun into the gravel in avoidance of an accident in front of him on Saturday evening. The car had the speed during the cooler temperatures of the night-time running to close up to and pass the No 8 Toyota ahead, and stayed there despite two slow pit stops where the car refused to fire up, including a heart-stopping final pit stop with 20 minutes remaining.

The team had time to reset the system for the second time, as the chasing Toyota of Ryo Hirakawa had crashed into the guardrail, losing valuable time repairing both front and rear-end damage.

Calado makes history as British winner for Ferrari 74 years on

The three drivers brought their Ferrari home more than a minute ahead of the Toyota to score a famous win. For Calado, the 33-year-old becomes the second Briton to have won Le Mans for Ferrari, following on from Peter Mitchell-Thompson, who drove to victory in Ferrari’s first win in 1949. “It is what we work for all our lives, to get these amazing moments,” said the English former GP2 driver after the race. “It is emotional, but it has not yet sunk in. When I am sitting down and having a beer I will realise what we have done.