Ye Yifei became the first Chinese driver to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, taking victory in Sunday's 2025 event along with AF Corse Ferrari teammates Robert Kubica and Phil Hanson.

The trio's #83 car had been dicing for the lead for much of the race with the #50 and #51 works Ferraris, and a key moment occurred with just under five hours to go, when Alessandro Pier Guidi made a costly error by spinning his leading #51 car when entering the pits.

AF Corse car (starting no. 83) a Ferrari 499P with Robert Kubica of Poland, Yifei Ye of China and Phil Hanson of Great Britain takes a curve during the 24-hour Le Mans endurance race, Sunday June 15, 2025 in Le Mans, western France. (Photo/Xinhua)

The Italian lost around 30 seconds as he rejoined the track, allowing the #83 car to take the lead and seize the initiative in the race, eventually crossing the line 14 seconds ahead of the second-placed #6 Penske Porsche of Matt Campbell, Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor.

Pier Guidi and teammates James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi ultimately finished third, with both works Ferraris managing cooling issues in the final hour of the race.

"It's a dream come true. I have to pinch myself," said Ye immediately after the race. "My team-mates, mechanics and engineers did an awesome job."

This marks Ferrari's third straight victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, extending the Prancing Horse's perfect record at La Sarthe since returning to the top class in 2023 after a 50-year absence.

In addition to Ye's milestone, Kubica also becomes the first Pole to win at Le Mans.

Ye's victory serves as redemption for his 2021 Le Mans outing, when he, Kubica and Louis Deletraz had been leading the LMP2 category before their Team WRT Oreca suffered an agonizing engine failure on the race's final lap.