2026 24 Hours of Le Mans: The 16 ex-F1 drivers racing this year
There are 16 former Formula 1 drivers competing at the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans begins on Saturday 13 June at 3pm BST, with 16 former Formula 1 drivers, including last year’s event winner, taking part.
The iconic French enduro will see a total of 186 drivers competing across three classes: Hypercar, LMP2 and LMGT3.
Of those 186, 16 are former Formula 1 drivers, including last year’s Le Mans winner Robert Kubica, who helped Ferrari to a third successive victory in 2025 for AF Corse.
Thirteen of those former F1 drivers make up part of the Hypercar field, as they bid for outright glory.
Of the rest, two are racing in the LMP2 class, while one is in LMGT3 as they prepare for a Hypercar step in 2027 when Ford enters the grid.
Below is the full list of former F1 drivers racing at the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Robert Kubica - AF Corse Ferrari
Hypercar
The standout name from the list of 16 ex-F1 drivers racing at Le Mans this year is, undoubtedly, Robert Kubica. The Pole made 99 starts with Sauber and Renault between 2007 and 2010, before his F1 career was upended by a serious arm injury from a rallying crash in early 2011.
He returned to F1 for a final campaign in 2019 with Williams, but it’s been in sportscar racing where Kubica has begun to earn the top accolades his talent has always deserved.
He, alongside team-mates Yifei Ye and Phil Hanson, guided Ferrari to a third successive Le Mans win in 2025 for the customer AF Corse squad.
It was an emotional, full circle moment for Kubica, who had been due to join Ferrari in F1 from 2012 had it not been for his rallying accident.
He will once again pilot the No.83 AF Corse Ferrari with Ye and Hanson in 2026.
Kamui Kobayashi - Toyota
Hypercar
Japanese star Kamui Kobayashi made 75 starts in Formula 1 with Toyota, Sauber and Caterham, with the highlight of his time in the series a home podium at Suzuka in 2012.
After moving on from F1 at the end of 2014, Kobayashi became a superstar of sportscar racing with Toyota.
He won Le Mans in 2021 in the first year of Hypercar, after it took over from LMP1 as the FIA WEC’s top category, with six other podiums at the event to his credit.
The 39-year-old, who was fifth last year, will drive the No.7 Toyota TR010 alongside fellow ex-F1 driver Nyck de Vries and Mike Conway.
Nyck de Vries - Toyota
Hypercar
Nyck de Vries only spent a short time in F1 with Williams, making a points-scoring stand-in debut at Monza in 2022. He contested 10 rounds for AlphaTauri in 2023, before being dropped mid-season due to a lack of results.
A champion in Formula E prior to his F1 stint, De Vries also has a Le Mans podium to his credit from 2024, when he was second with Kobayashi and Conway in the No.7 Toyota.
He will once again race with that duo in the No.7 TR010 in 2026.
Sebastien Buemi - Toyota
Hypercar
The Swiss driver made 55 starts for Toro Rosso between 2009 and 2011, but has found much more success outside of F1.
A one-time Formula E champion, it’s been sportscar racing where Buemi has excelled, winning the FIA WEC title four times.
That also includes four wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022. All of those wins have come with Toyota, two of them alongside double F1 world champion Fernando Alonso.
He will drive the No.8 Toyota with Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa.
Brendon Hartley - Toyota
Hypercar
Brendon Hartley was already a sportscar superstar when he made his debut in F1 at the end of 2017 with Toro Rosso, completing a sole full campaign the following year.
He scored a first Le Mans podium in 2015 with Porsche in the old LMP1 category, before scoring victory in 2017 with the German marque. His second Le Mans win came in 2020 with Toyota, alongside Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima. His third win came in 2022, again with Toyota.
Hartley will go for a fourth Le Mans win this year in the No.8 Toyota with Buemi and Hirakawa.
Will Stevens - Cadillac
Hypercar
Will Stevens competed in just one full F1 season in 2015 with the Manor squad, scoring no points in his time in the series.
But sportscar racing has been a much happier hunting ground for the Briton, who has two class wins in LMP2 to his credit.
He will drive the No.12 Hertz Team Jota Cadillac with Alex Lynn and Norman Nato.
Kevin Magnussen - BMW
Hypercar
Kevin Magnussen is the longest-serving F1 driver on the Le Mans grid, having made 185 starts with McLaren, Ranualt and Haas.
Dabbling in sportscars between F1 stints, Magnussen made the full-time step into the FIA WEC with WRT and BMW last season. He grabbed a maiden WEC podium in the Hypercar class at Spa earlier this year.
Le Mans has not been kind to Magnussen yet, but he will hope to change that in 2026 in the No.15 BMW with Raffaele Marciello and Dries Vanthoor.
Andre Lotterer - Genesis
Hypercar
Andre Lotterer was always a sportscar specialist, with his sole F1 start coming as a stand-in at Caterham at the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix.
Lotterer has three 24 Hours of Le Mans wins on his CV, in 2011, 2012 and 2014, all of them with Porsche. It’s been over 10 years since his last podium at the event, however, with 2026 marking his return to the Hypercar class after a year in LMP2.
He will campaign the No.17 Genesis Magma Racing entry for its Le Mans debut alongside Luis Felipe Derani and Mathys Jaubert.
Sebastien Bourdais - Cadillac
Hypercar
Bourdais’ time in F1 was short, with the Frenchman competing in just 27 races for Toro Rosso, but has enjoyed much success in sportscars.
These include outright wins at the Daytona 24 Hours and a class victory at Le Mans in 2016.
He will campaign the No.38 Cadillac alongside Earl Bamber and Jack Aitken this year.
Jack Aitken - Cadillac
Hypercar
Jack Aitken’s time in F1 amounted to just a single start, at the Sakhir Grand Prix in 2020 with Williams.
Sportscar racing has been a far more successful pursuit for him, however, though Le Mans has proven to be a tricky battleground for him since his debut in 2022.
He will drive the No.38 Hertz Team Jota Cadillac this year.
Antonio Giovinazzi - Ferrari
Hypercar
The 32-year-old Italian made 32 starts in F1 for Sauber between 2017 and 2021. Moving to the FIA WEC with Ferrari in Hypercar for the 2023 season, Giovinazzi has become a star of the series.
He was world champion in WEC last year and won at Le Mans in Ferrari’s top class return in 2023, while finishing third in the following two years.
Giovinazzi will once again drive the No.51 car with James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi in pursuit of a second Le Mans win this year.
Paul di Resta - Peugeot
Hypercar
Paul di Resta made 59 starts in F1 with Force India and Williams between 2011 and 2017, but has been far more successful in sportscar racing.
He won the 24 Hours of Daytona in LMP2 last year and has an LMP2 class win at Le Mans in 2020.
Part of Peugeot’s Hypercar programme since 2023, the project has failed to trouble the podium battle at the 24 Hours.
He will race the No.93 9X8 with Stoffel Vandoorne and Nick Cassidy this year.
Stoffel Vandoorne - Peugeot
Hypercar
Stoffel Vandoorne made 41 starts in F1 between 2016 and 2018 with McLaren, before a move to Formula E for 2018-2019 netted him a championship title.
In sporstcar racing, he has seven WEC podiums to his credit, including a third in 2019 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMP1 class.
He will race the No.93 9X8 with Paul di Resta and Nick Cassidy this year.
Jack Doohan - Nielsen Oreca 07
LMP2
Jack Doohan’s time in F1 yielded just seven starts, following a fractious split with Alpine partway through the 2025 season.
As he plots a comeback into the F1 paddock as part of the Haas team’s reserve programme, Doohan has kept his hand in racing in sportscars.
He is currently competing in the European Le Mans Series with Nielsen Racing, with whom he will compete at Le Mans for the first time.
Doohan will drive the No.24 car with David Heinmeier Hansson and Edward Pearson.
Pietro Fittipaldi - Vector Oreca 07
LMP2
Pietro Fittipaldi, grandson of double F1 world champion Emerson Fittipaldi, made two grand prix starts for Haas in 2020.
Since then, he has taken to sportscar racing, with a best finish of seventh in the LMP2 class at Le Mans in 2022.
He will drive the No.26 Vector entry with Vladislav Lomko and Ryan Cullen.
Logan Sargeant - Ford
LMGT3
The American made 36 starts in F1 for Williams between 2023 and 2024, scoring a single point in that time, before being dropped midway through the 2024 campaign.
Sargeant will make his top-flight debut in the FIA WEC next season when Ford enters the Hypercar class. As part of preparation for that, he is competing in the FIA WEC’s LMGT3 class with Proto Competition in a Ford Mustang.
He will drive the No.88 Proton Competition car along with Stefano Gattuso and Gianmarco Levorato for his Le Mans debut.
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