24 Hours of Le Mans: Ferrari continues to set the pace at the 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is in full swing – and Ferrari continues to set the pace at the front of the field. After having a double lead between the 499P constructors at the start of the race, the yellow 499P of Robert Kubica, Robert Schwartzman and Yifei Yi was now at the top of the classification for a few hours (although after its own pit car) holding off a competitor and briefly taking the lead as well. ) But one thing is clear: Ferrari seems to be in a really good position.

“We are leading the race, but it is still very early. “We still have to do a few more laps,” Schwartzman said. “The car looks good overall and the pace is right as well. For us, it is important to do the job as well as possible. “It's going to be a long night, and we want to have good speed.”

Shortly after the start stage, all three 499Ps occupied the top three positions. However, a small amount of rain fell on some parts of the track and several vehicles in the field switched to rain tires – including the No. 51 Ferrari of Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi. However, it later turned out that the choice was wrong. As the track dried quickly and soon after that we had to go back to the slicks. The Ferrari of Pier Guidi/Calado/Giovinazzi initially dropped back to the midfield – but has now moved back to fifth.

Behind the private Ferrari (yellow) is the second works car driven by Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen in second place. In the middle of the three 499P cars is a Porsche 963 driven by Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen and Frederic Mackovici as well as a Toyota GR010 Hybrid driven by Sébastien Buemi, Ryo Hirakawa and Brendon Hartley.

Toyota is getting stronger as the race progresses, and has already (but also predictably) consolidated its position in the leading group. The second GR010 hybrid of José María López, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries is currently in sixth place. Two more Porsches follow. These three brands look likely to compete for the overall win at Le Mans this year.

Stand up after about six hours

Ferrari No. 83 – Kubica/Schwartzman/Ye
Ferrari No. 50 – Fuoco/Molina/Nielsen
Porsche No. 5 – Campbell/Kristensen/Makovicki
Toyota No. 8 – Buemi/Hirakawa/Hartley
Ferrari No. 51 – Pier Guidi/Calado/Giovinazzi