Who are the 19 ex-F1 drivers racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans?

The 24 Hours of Le Mans takes place this weekend, with eight manufacturers competing in the premier Hypercar class.

Seventeen ex-F1 drivers will be racing in the Hypercar division, while there will be 19 ex-F1 drivers on the grid overall.

Over the years, a number of former F1 drivers have won the legendary race.

Fernando Alonso famously won the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2018 and 2019 with Toyota.

Current Sauber driver Nico Hulkenberg was victorious in 2015, taking part in Le Mans during the middle of the F1 season.

Brendon Hartley, Sebastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima, Kamui Kobayashi and Antonio Giovinazzi have all won the Le Mans 24 Hours, having previously raced in F1.  

Felipe Nasr

Felipe Nasr will be behind the wheel of the #4 Porsche 963 at Le Mans. The Brazilian made his F1 debut in 2015 with Sauber, finishing fifth-place at the Australian Grand Prix. Nasr’s F1 career would only last until the end of 2016. Ironically, his points finish for Sauber at the end of 2016 season cost him his drive as it promoted Sauber ahead of Manor - who he was linked with at the time.

After his F1 career, Nasr switched to IMSA in America. He’s also competed in the Sebring 12 Hours and Daytona 24 Hours. This year, he’s racing at Le Mans with Porsche Penske Motorsport.

Pascal Wehrlein

Pascal Wehrlein is Nasr’s teammate in the #4 Porsche 963. Wehrlein impressed for Manor in 2016, scoring points for the team at the Austrian Grand Prix. He moved to Sauber in 2017 but was dropped at the end of the season for Charles Leclerc.

Wehrlein was destined for a lengthy F1 career, given he was part of the Mercedes junior programme, but it didn’t work out. Wehrlein has since competed in the World Endurance Championship and Formula E, winning the drivers’ championship in the all-electric series in 2024.

Kamui Kobayashi

The popular Japanese driver will be racing for Toyota at Le Mans. He will pilot the Toyota GR010 Hybrid. Kamui Kobayashi made a name for himself in F1 during the back-end of the 2009 season, stepping in for the injured Timo Glock.

His impressive stand-in performances earned him a full-time drive with Sauber, where he remained until the end of 2012. Kobayashi returned to the grid with backmarkers Caterham in 2014 before leaving the sport.

Kobayashi’s post-F1 career has been successful, winning Le Mans in 2021. He’s also won the World Endurance Championship title in 2019, 2020 and 2021.

Nyck De Vries

Nyck De Vries is teammates with Kobayashi at Toyota. De Vries made his long-awaited F1 debut at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix, standing in for Alex Albon. De Vries impressed and his performance ultimately secured him a drive with AlphaTauri for 2023.

His performances were below par and he was replaced by Daniel Ricciardo. De Vries has fared better away from F1, narrowly missing out on a Le Mans win last year.

Sebastien Buemi

Sebastian Buemi will drive the second Toyota GR010 Hybrid. The Swiss made his F1 debut in 2009 with Toro Rosso. Unable to impress Red Bull bosses enough to earn a promotion to Red Bull, he was replaced for 2012. Buemi has remained part of the Red Bull set-up as a simulator driver.

Away from F1, Buemi has enjoyed a plethora of success with Formula E and WEC titles to his name. He’s won Le Mans three times - in 2018, 2019 and 020 - with Toyota.

Brendon Hartley

Like Buemi, Brendon Hartley was part of the Red Bull junior programme. He got his long-awaited F1 chance in 2018 at Toro Rosso. Prior to his F1 career, Hartley had already won Le Mans - winning in 2017.

After his short-lived F1 career, Hartley returned to WEC and continued to achieve great things. He won Le Mans in 2020, 2022 and 2023, winning the WEC title in 2022 and 2023.

Will Stevens

Will Stevens spearheads Cadillac’s Hypercar charge in 2025. The British driver made his F1 debut at the 2014 Abu Dhabi with Caterham before getting a full-time opportunity with Manor. However, Manor were uncompetitive and Stevens struggled to leave an impression.

While Stevens has continued to have links to F1, acting as a McLaren development driver, he’s had more success in sports cars. He’s competed in a variety of championships, from IMSA to ELMS to ALMS.

Kevin Magnussen

Kevin Magnussen’s F1 career came to an end in 2024. The Dane spent nine years in F1, racing for McLaren, Renault and Haas, scoring one podium during that time.

Magnussen has joined MW M Motorsport for 2025 in the World Endurance Championship, with his only previous Le Mans experience coming in LMP2 in 2022.

Mick Schumacher

After leaving his role as Mercedes’ test and reserve driver, Mick Schumacher is part of the Alpine Endurance Team. Mick, the son of seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher, enjoyed two years at Haas in 2021 and 2022.

However, a run of crashes and poor performances resulted in Haas ditching him for Nico Hulkenberg. Schumacher has spearheaded Alpine’s WEC programme, earning the outfit’s first podium at the 6 Hours of Fuji.

Schumacher still has his eyes on an F1 return, potentially with Cadillac in 2026.

Sebastien Bourdais

Sebastian Bourdais’ impressive motorsport CV didn’t translate into F1. He was dropped by Toro Rosso midway through 2009 after struggling alongside Buemi.

The four-time ChampCar champion has raced at Le Mans 17 times over the years and has wins at the Sebring 12 Hours and Daytona 24 Hours to his name.

Bourdais is driving for Cadillac alongside 2009 F1 world champion Jenson Button.

Jenson Button

Jenson Button is the only former F1 driver to have won the world championship, coming out on top with Brawn GP in 2009. Button enjoyed an impressive F1 car, winning 15 races across 306 grand prix starts.

Button’s F1 career come to an end in 2016 after a couple of uncompetitive years at McLaren-Honda. 2025 will be Button’s final Le Mans appearance, having entered WEC full-time with Hertz Team JOTA.

Antonio Giovinazzi

Antonio Giovinazzi is driving for Ferrari AF Corse at Le Mans this weekend. His F1 career was mostly uninspiring, spending three years at Sauber.

The Italian has already enjoyed success in the World Endurance Championship, winning Le Mans in 2023 for Ferrari, giving them a historic win.

Robert Kubica

Widely regarded as one of F1’s most talented drivers in the last 20 years, Robert Kubica will drive the Ferrari 499P this weekend. The Pole took his maiden F1 victory for BMW-Sauber at the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix. Had it not been for his rally accident in 2011, Kubica would likely have moved to Ferrari.

Kubica made his return to F1 in 2019 with Williams, beating George Russell in the final F1 drivers’ standings despite the young British driver having a significant pace advantage throughout the season. His return to F1 was an achievement in itself given the injuries sustained to his wrist following the aforementioned rally accident.

Kubica has two LMP2 titles, winning in 2022 with Prema and then in 2023 with WRT.

Paul di Resta

Paul di Resta spent three seasons at Force India between 2011 and 2013. He also made a one-off return for Williams at the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix.

He failed to finish on the podium during his time in F1. The former Sky F1 pundit will represent Peugeot 

Di Resta will represent Peugeot at Le Mans.

Jean-Eric Vergne

Jean-Eric Vergne spent three years in F1. His F1 career has ultimately been defined by missing out on a Red Bull drive. Red Bull had to choose between Vergne and Ricciardo as Mark Webber’s replacement for 2014 - ultimately choosing the Australian. Vergne was again overlooked for 2015 following Sebastian Vettel’s exit as Daniil Kvyat got the call-up.

Since leaving F1, Vergne has won the Formula E title twice. He’s raced at Le Mans in the LMP2 on multiple occasions before joining Peugeot TotalEnergies’ hypercar programme.

Stoffel Vandoorne

Many feel that Stoffel Vandoorne didn’t get a fair crack at F1. He scored his points on his debut for McLaren, standing in for Fernando Alonso at the 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix. After two difficult years with the Woking-based outfit, Vandoorne was ultimately replaced for the 2019 season.

Vandoorne has won the Formula E title with Mercedes and competed at Le Mans for the first time in 2019. He’s been competing with Peugeot since 2024, combining it with his Aston Martin F1 commitments.

Jack Aitken

Jack Aitken has just one F1 start to his name, replacing George Russell at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix. Russell was given the call-up to Mercedes after Lewis Hamilton was ruled out of the race in Bahrain due to COVID-19.

Aitken will be behind the wheel of the Cadillac V-Series.R.

Andre Lotterer

Andre Lotterer’s sole F1 appearance came at the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix. He out-qualified Marcus Ericsson in his only F1 outing, which ended on the first lap at Spa-Francorchamps.

Lotterer is competing in the LMP2 class for IDEC Sport.

Pietro Fittipaldi

Also competing in LMP2 is Pietro Fittipaldi. He will drive for United Autosports. Fittipaldi has two F1 race starts to his name after replacing the injured Romain Grosjean at the end of 2020.