Toyota has won the 2026 Le Mans 24 Hours, ending a three year run of Ferrari supremacy at the race.

After a low-key qualifying session that saw its Hypercars start 14th and 15th, Toyota’s race pace in 30C heat and unconventional strategy quickly brought its cars into contention, where it always looked to be a challenger for victory.

From the opening laps of the race, the team seized control, pitting early to put their cars into clear air and hitting the front within the first hour.

The lead cycled between BMW, Cadillac and Toyota for much of the race, but the final hours saw the No7 Toyota hit the front. There was no chance of letting up: Kamui Kobayashi drove it over the line 10sec ahead of the No20 BMW, with the second No8 Toyota a further 10sec back in third. Cadillac’s No12 car was fourth, 32sec behind the winner.

Its starting position of 14th was further back on the grid than any winning car in the race’s history. 

One major obstacle to victory was removed from Toyota’s path when, in characteristically cruel fashion, a “$2” component caused the power steering to fail overnight in the No38 Cadillac, which was leading at the time.

Driver Sébastien Bourdais sat on the floor with his head in his hands as mechanics tried to repair the issue and looked barely consolable as he watched a solid chance of victory slip through his fingers, which he later described as “the dagger in the heart”.

“We obviously had an amazing car – it was fighting at the front the entire time,” said the disconsolate driver. “This race has got its ways to humble everything and everyone, and, yeah, for, for maybe a $2 piece, it just came to a crushing end.”

The question of whether the Cadillac would have found the pace to challenge Toyota when its sister cars didn’t remains unanswered.

Other Hypercar teams are also rueing their luck: BMW’s No15 car started on pole, but fell out of the running for victory with a puncture; Ferrari‘s No50 car looked more competitive than expected but lost ground because of a fire extinguisher issue before retiring.

However, the winning team from 2023-2025 never looked like winning, but still finished fifth in the No51 car — a result that driver James Calado described would be like “winning the lottery” ahead of the race.

Lead battle emerged from the start

Polesitter Kevin Magnussen enjoyed leading the 2026 Le Mans 24 Hours for just under a second before his BMW was passed first by Will Stevens in the No12 Cadillac and Rene Rast in the sister, No20, BMW.

Eight laps later, Sébastien Buemi drove the No8 Toyota in to the pits, stopping three laps earlier than rivals. Having started 15th, he exited in clear air, with a car that was flying in the 28C temperatures, soon setting the fastest lap of the race so far.

And that, for most of the 24 hours would be the enduring battle for victory.

Behind them, Aston Martin‘s competitive promise evaporated in the heat, its drivers struggling to manage tyre wear. As the team feared, Peugeot remained mired at the back and Alpine has struggled to break into the leading group.

Ferrari — winner of the last three Le Mans 24 Hours races — has been stalking the frontrunners throughout the race, looking more competitive than it initially feared.

At the front, the No8 Toyota on its offset strategy traded the lead with the No20 BMW as the each pitted; the No12 Cadillac looming in the background.

No38 arrives at the front

Three hours into the race, a new contender emerged as the two leaders were caught out by a full course yellow caution, preventing them from making a full pitstop. BMW and Cadillac were forced to make an emergency stop to take on just enough fuel to avoid running out. They then had to stop again when the caution ended.

That helped Jack Aitken in the No38 Cadillac to join the fight. He passed Sheldon van der Linde in the No20 BMW to lead four-and-a-half hours in. While he lost the place in the next round of pitstops, Aitken attacked van der Linde again, muscling past with an opportunistic move through a tight gap at the Ford Chicane, this time to take second place behind the No8 Toyota.

The three then rotated the lead, with each car’s pitstop schedule out of sync.

Behind the leaders, other Hypercars were becoming tangled in traffic. As the Cadillac and BMW battled ahead, Alessandro Pier Guidi ran wide while lapping Jonas Ried, pushing the No9 Proton Competition LMP2 car off the track. The No51 Ferrari driver pleaded innocence but was handed a drive-through penalty.

The consequences were more severe for Dries Vanthoor when he clashed with the No3 DKR Engineering LMP2 car, driven by John Farano, almost six hours into the race. The No15 BMW Hypercar, which had been on pole, came off worse with a puncture and had to limp back to the pits, going two laps down in the process.

Nightfall

As the night drew in and the temperatures cooled, Cadillac was the first frontrunner to switch to soft tyres; all three cars being fitted with the compound with seven hours gone in the race.

Earl Bamber, now in the No38 car set the fastest lap as he stretched his lead, but the advantage was short-lived as two LMGT3 cars touched at Tertre Rouge; contact with the No88 Ford Mustang sending the No54 Ferrari 296 spinning into the gravel.

It triggered a safety car period, lasting 45 minutes, during which all of the leaders pitted, shuffling Sébastien Buemi in the No8 Toyota into the lead, ahead of the No20 BMW, and the No12 and No38 Cadillacs.

Drivers were able to watch the race’s midnight firework display behind the safety car before the restart, 20 minutes later saw both Cadillacs pass the BMW. Buemi had built a lead of around 10sec over the Cadillacs by 1am; Rast was a further 10sec behind.

Ferrari’s hopes of a competitive finish were dealt a blow when its No50 car had to pit with a fire extinguisher fault, which saw the car spend 30 minutes in the garage for repairs that included an ECU replacement.

Back on track, the tables had turned one more when Brendon Hartley, now in the No8 Toyota, went straight on at Mulsanne Corner just after 1am, eliminating his lead, and bringing the No12 Cadillac of Will Stevens right onto his tail.

Unable to find a way past, Stevens was soon caught by the Earl Bamber in the No38 Cadillac, who then pitted early, handing over to Jack Aitken, who used his fresh tyres to undercut the leader.

After stopping one lap later, Hartley fell behind Aitken, who was running second, 15sec behind Stevens’ No12 Cadillac.

Ninety minutes after the restart, just before 2am, eight leading cars remained within a minute of each other; the No19 Genesis running fourth ahead of the No7 Toyota, which suffered an early puncture. The No20 BMW had slipped to sixth, just ahead of the No51 Ferrari.

Stevens’ lead didn’t last long as Aitken set about demolishing the gap. When Stevens had to stop for a tyre and driver change, Aitken only needed fuel, putting him out ahead of the No12 car, now driven by Louis Delétraz who soon lost his second place to a resurgent Hartley in the No8 Toyota.

Aitken continued to streak away, building a lead of around 30sec before handing over to Sébastien Bourdais just before 4am — half distance. Déletraz had moved the No12 Cadillac ahead of Ryo Hirakawa in the No8 Toyota and the No20 BMW was climbing back into contention; 40sec down.

Cadillac despair

But Le Mans is anything but predictable — or equitable — and the halfway point of the race brought despair for Cadillac as the leading No38 car was wheeled into the garage with a power steering issue.

Hard to see this kind of images….#SebBourdais pic.twitter.com/m5rl7SazES

— 24 Hours of Le Mans (@24hoursoflemans) June 14, 2026

Bourdais sat with his helmet in his hands, as the issue was fixed, leaving the car eight laps behind the leader when Bourdais rejoined almost half an hour later. It would be a temporary return; it returned to the garage soon afterwards as the issue recurred and later retired.

The No8 Toyota was handed a drive-through penalty for a full course yellow infraction and, at 6am, with 14 hours complete, sat third, just ahead of the No7 car, with Cadillac’s No12 car leading the No20 BMW.

Hypercar newcomers Genesis dropped out of the top ten when its No19 car stopped on track before managing to get back to the pits — four laps down.

By 8am, with eight hours remaining, Toyota had gained second place from BMW, and both remained in touch with race leader Will Stevens in the No12 Cadillac.

The race was far from over, as Louis Deletraz in the leading Cadillac was given a drive-through penalty for speeding in a slow zone and dropped to third.

A Toyota-Cadillac battle for second was brought to an end when the No8 car had a left front brake change when it stopped just before 10am, adding almost a minute to its stationary time, and putting it behind the No7 car.

Both were over 2min behind the leading No20 BMW, but that gap was rendered academic by an imminent hour-long safety car period, following a heavy crash into the tyre barrier at the Daytona Chicane, involving the No91 Manthey DK Engineering Porsche 911.