The 24 Hours of Le Mans is like no other event on the FIA World Endurance Championship calendar in many, many ways. And thankfully, DSC has put together a guide to go over the idiosyncrasies of this event, starting with a revamped qualifying format which differs from years past.
We’ll also tackle how Safety Cars and Full Course Yellows differ at this race around the massive Circuit de la Sarthe versus other shorter, permanent circuits on the WEC calendar.
New-for-2025 Hyperpole Qualifying system
The path to pole position, which Kevin Estre won last year, begins Wednesday evening with first Qualifying practices. Two 30-minute sessions are scheduled, one for LMP2 and LMGT3 combined, and one for Hypercar.
After each session, the top 15 cars out of 21 in Hypercar move on to the first stage of Hyperpole – called Hyperpole 1. The top 12 cars in LMP2 and LMGT3, likewise, move on to ‘H1’.
LMP2/LMGT3 Hyperpole 1 will last 20 minutes, and at the end of ‘H1,’ the top eight cars in each class will proceed to the 15-minute Hyperpole 2 session that sets the front of the field.
This is followed by Hyperpole 1 and Hyperpole 2 for Hypercar: From the top 15 Hypercars in ‘H1’, the top 10 will progress to ‘H2’. Both sessions are 20 and 15 minutes, respectively.
Three new sets of tyres are available for each team to use exclusively across both Hyperpole sessions.
LMGT3 teams must run their Bronze-graded driver in Wednesday’s first stage of Qualifying.
And all 17 LMP2 teams will qualify as a single class regardless if they are LMP2 Pro/Am or not.
Drive Time Requirements
In all classes, no driver can run more than four hours in a six-hour period.
In LMP2 and LMGT3, Bronze and Silver drivers must each run a minimum of six hours during the race, while the maximum for any driver is 14 hours. The six-hour minimum time does not apply to Gold or Platinum-graded drivers.
However, any driver registered in the World Endurance Championship must drive for at least 60 minutes to score World Championship points in Hypercar or LMGT3.
Slow Zones
Slow zones are used by the Race Director to partially neutralise the race in a number of designated zones to allow intervention for a stricken vehicle.
Speed is limited to 80 kilometres per hour in the zone, protected by ‘Next Slow’ signage and in-car indications. Overtaking is prohibited in ‘Next Slow’ and Slow Zone areas.
Slow Zones can be preceded or followed by a Full Course Yellow (FCY) or Safety Car intervention.
Full Course Yellow (FCY)
A Full Course Yellow is intended for intervention that should take less than one full lap at 80 km/h.
The pit lane entry closes as soon as a message reading “Prepare for Full Course Yellow” is posted, though the pit exit stays open.
There is no Virtual Safety Car (VSC) process at the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Safety Car
The Safety Car can be used by the Race Director to neutralise a session if a competitor(s) or official(s) are in immediate danger.
At Le Mans there are three Safety Cars, located at the exit of pit lane (A), Arnage (B), and the first Mulsanne Chicane (C). All cars must then form up in a queue behind the first Safety Car they encounter, no more than five car lengths apart.
Overtaking is absolutely forbidden until the Safety Car has returned to the pits, unless instructed by Race Control during the Merge and Pass-Around stages.
Pit lane entry is open from when the Safety Cars are deployed until the merging process begins. Once the Safety Car procedure is initiated, and until the merging process begins, any car which enters the pit lane will only be allowed on track, at the earliest, after the last car behind the next Safety Car passes Safety Car Line 2 (Between Pit Out and Turn One).
Merging
When the Race Director decides it is safe to proceed, the message “Incident clear — Prepare for Merging” will be posted on the timing monitors.
At this point, Pit entry will close. Safety Cars B and C will turn on their green lights, then cars which are positioned behind Safety Cars B and C will overtake their respective Safety Cars. They will continue as quickly and safely as possible, and without overtaking between themselves, until they reach the line behind Safety Car A.
Pass-Around
When merging is complete, the Race Director will authorise a “Pass-Around” for any car that has their category leader behind them, in the order circulating behind Safety Car A.
It is the team’s responsibility to determine if their car is eligible for a Pass-Around. The penalty for passing around when ineligible is a penalty stop equivalent to the time it takes to complete two race laps!
From the point of the “Prepare for Pass-Around” message being posted on the timing monitors, change of racing line or weaving is not allowed, and all cars must remain to the left-hand side of the track.
Cars in the Pass-Around can pass the Safety Car once the green lights are shown. Without overtaking between each other, they will then catch up with the field as quickly and safely as possible, then assume position at the rear of the Safety Car queue.
If the leader of the category is in the pit lane as the “Prepare for Pass-Around” message is displayed, then eligibility shall be based on the next car from the category that was physically behind the leader on track, in circulating order, at the time the initial order was established.
The Safety Car shall be used at least until the car in the lead of a category is behind it, and all remaining cars are lined up behind the category leader (or, in the event that there is more than one Safety Car, all the cars in that Safety Car’s sector).
Pit exit under Safety Car
While the Safety Car is in operation until Merging begins, cars may enter the pit lane, but may only rejoin the track when the green light at the end of pit lane is on.
As soon as the merging process is signalled on timing monitors, the pit entry will close.
Emergency Service
As defined in the regulations, Emergency Service can only include 10 seconds of fuel (plus any additional BoP-relevant docking time), replacing a damaged tyre, or repairing any damage or bodywork which presents an obvious safety risk.
The competitor must then enter pit lane again when pit entry reopens. If a car needs more work under an emergency stop than that which is listed above, following that stop, it must lose at least one full lap.
End of Safety Car procedure
When the Clerk of the Course calls in the Safety Car, the orange lights will go out, indicating that it will enter pit lane at the end of that lap. At this point, the first car in line behind the Safety Car may dictate the pace and, if necessary, fall more than five car lengths behind it.
No erratic acceleration or braking, or any other manoeuvre which is likely to endanger other drivers or impede the restart, is allowed.
Pit lane will be open for the following lap, and the pit lane exit will be closed from when the Safety Car crosses Safety Car Line 1 until the end of the queue behind it crosses Safety Car Line 2 (effectively a full additional lap).
Final Hour Safety Car
If a Safety Cars are deployed in the final hour, these changes take effect:
There will be no merging of the field or pass around.
Once the “Safety Car In This Lap” notification is posted, Safety Cars will return to their assigned holding positions. After the Safety Cars have returned to their posts, the waved Green Flags will be shown at all marshal posts. These flags will be deployed for a maximum of one lap.
Once the track goes green at the end of the Safety Car procedure, pit exit will remain closed until the last car in line behind Safety Car A has passed Pit Exit.
If the Safety Car is still deployed at the beginning of the last lap, or is deployed during the last lap, then the Safety Car A will enter the pit lane at the end of the lap, and the cars will take the chequered flag as normal without overtaking – same as Safety Car B, Safety Car C, and the cars that follow them.
