A look at the performance, including the impact of the Ferrari wing issues towards the end.
Lap Times – Drivers – Sectors – Speed Trap
Lap Times
A Hypercar record distance with 5 cars finishing on the same lap. The second highest in the history of the race. It wasn’t as high as last year’s nine. Other than the last two years the maximum was two cars. The winning margin was also the third closest in history1. How close were the cars in performance?
The chart below gives a good indication of the relative pace v. number of laps. The Cadillac #38 (not shown) had the fastest lap. It clearly had pace, but not as much endurance race pace.
A look at the “ultimate” pace, with the average of the Top 10 lap times. Ferrari at the front with a whopping 0.3s over the Cadillac.
Peugeot loses out to Aston Martin.
Looking at the longer averages we see Porsche closes the gap. Notably the Ferraris are clumped together suggesting a very good endurance car that it is easier to get the best out of.
Drivers
Fuoco, Nielsen, and Kubica all very close. Kubica wins the ironman award for most laps. and made them count with the Top 60 lap average.
Some drivers in cars that didn’t feature at the front coming to the fore. For instance we see Kobayashi up there.
Schumacher also stands out for his position relative to the other Alpine drivers.
Kestre strongest for Porsche, with Vanthoor, Jaminet, Andlauder, and Campbell very close to each other.
This is influenced by when the drivers were on track – was it during happy hour.
Sectors
Cadillac has now come to the fore in S1 and S3.
Extra Sectors
Back for 2025 are additional sector timings. The location and classification is outlined here.
Slow Corner Sectors
Fast Corner Sectors
Low Speed Acceleration Sectors
Medium Straights
Long Straights
and that leads into Speed Trap…
Speed Trap
In an attempt to remove the fastest tow supported speed trap numbers the averages from Top 20% to Top 60% laps. Obviously not perfect, but better than including a lot of laps, or including those super good laps.
Ferrari #50 Disqualification
The Ferrari was disqualified after four missing bolts caused the rear wing to flex, helping it’s top speed.
“As reported by the Stewards, during the #50 car’s last pit stop at 3.23 p.m [lap 376]. on Sunday, 15 June, a Ferrari – AF Corse team mechanic noticed that only one of the bolts securing the central rear wing support was missing.
“Given the design of the element, the absence of one or more of these components did not compromise the car’s safety in any way. The subsequent loss of the remaining bolts during the final 37 minutes of the race provided no advantage in terms of performance or the final standings.
“The top speed of the #50 499P reported by the Stewards in their decision was recorded during the car’s final seven laps while it was running in the slipstream of its sister car, the #51 499P.
#50 Ferrari gain top speed late in race relative to its sister cars and the Porsche. Interestingly prior to that it lost speed. Was that directly related and while working lose it hindered the top speed, or indirectly impacted as the driver felt a difference and eased off?
(This is rolling ten laps and this needs to be considered when reading the chart)
Earlier in the race it is interesting to see the variation. Potentially there was a lot of lift and cost going on before the SC (laps 184-188).
A quick check about whether this was influenced by wind suggests not. The wind speed was relatively low and was approximately SSE during the slower trap speeds, which is more favourable than not.
We see the same trend when looking at the third Mulsanne straight sector time. This sector does not contain any corners, but has early braking for Mulsanne corner2. Initially around lap 348 the sector time drops, then it improves to a good pace. Finally dropping again of the last dozen or so laps (chart shows rolling ten laps).
(This is rolling ten laps and this needs to be considered when reading the chart)
It did not seem to impact the time in the Porsche Curves too much. There is a little drop off in the last stint.
(This is rolling ten laps and this needs to be considered when reading the chart)
Just before the final stop (lap 376) lap times were good for #50 with it lapping near its fastest and the same as its sister car (rolling ten lap average). Towards the end it drops off on this rolling average – it had been slower for the last 10+ laps.
(This is rolling ten laps and this needs to be considered when reading the chart)
- Pedants note: Between different manufacturers/non-staged finishes. ↩︎
- Additional timing loops for 2025. ↩︎