Ferrari wins for the second time in a row — and in 2025 the victory coincides with the pace lead. The #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P takes the class win after 387 laps, and Ferrari tops the top-class manufacturer pace ranking with 237.3 km/h, narrowly ahead of BMW (237.2) and Porsche (236.8). The pace paradox does not apply here: the fastest manufacturer also produces the winner.
A Tight Pace Field, One Clear Loser
The front of the HYPERCAR field is separated by roughly one km/h — evidence of how well the Balance of Performance works. At the bottom of the table sits Peugeot once again with 234.7 km/h, the recurring pattern of a conceptually inferior 9X8. The winning margin over P2 (Porsche #6) is +14.1 s — a gap built up over the distance, typical for Le Mans, not a photo finish like Daytona.
An Eventful Closing Phase
Unlike 2026, the 2025 race did not settle down in its final stage: position stability in the closing hour stands at 77 %. Behind the leading Hypercars, late incidents and penalties kept things moving — the most prominent collapse involves a previously well-placed car that drops far back in the closing phase. Across the full distance we record 10 lead changes among 5 different leaders.
Reliability: GT3 as the Loser Over the Distance
The class picture holds true in 2025 as well: the LMGT3 carries the heaviest burden with a 33 % retirement rate — a third of the field fails to reach the finish. HYPERCAR (14 %) and LMP2 (18 %) sit well below that. The customer-racing nature of GT3 with mixed driver line-ups makes a measurable impact over 24 hours.
The Myth of Nighttime Degradation
In 2025, too, no pace drop-off in the dark: the top class’s day/night delta comes in at +0.1 km/h — practically zero. The Le Mans night is a test of concentration and traffic management, not a thermal-aerodynamic degradation event.
Comparability
The pace gap between HYPERCAR and LMP2 is 9.8 s per lap — the large class jump characteristic of Le Mans, standing clearly apart from Daytona (where the pace delta is typically under 4 s). These exact metrics — pace ranking, class reliability, night delta, closing stability, lead changes and winning margin — are the ones we evaluate identically for every race.
Analysis across all 24 race hours, reproducibly derived from position, lap and lap-time progressions.
