Interview: Phil Hanson’s unconventional path to becoming a Le Mans winner with Ferrari

Three first-time Le Mans winners were crowned during the 93rd running of the French endurance classic, as Robert Kubica, Phil Hanson and Yifei Ye guided AF Corse’s No. 83 Ferrari 499P to the victory lane at the Circuit de la Sarthe. It was a moment of jubilation for the trio as they climbed to the top step of the podium overlooking the start/finish straight, with the tifosi flooding the track in celebration.

But the trio’s journeys to the most celebrated prize in endurance racing couldn’t have been more different. For Kubica, it marked the culmination of a remarkable comeback from the devastating rally crash that derailed his F1 career in 2011. For Ye, it was a historic breakthrough as he became the first Chinese driver to win Le Mans outright.

Hanson’s story, however, is quite unlike either of his teammates’. While most young drivers tend to move up to formula cars after spending their formative learning years in karting, only turning to sportscars later in their careers, Hanson went off the beaten track and jumped straight to sportscar racing at the age of 16.

After winning the 2016 BritCar Endurance Championship with Nigel Moore in an Audi R8 LMS GT3 entered by Tockwith, he triumphed in the LMP2 class of the Asian Le Mans Series the same winter.

Incredibly, this earned Tockwith an invite for Le Mans and, at the age of just 17, Hanson was racing at La Sarthe with Moore and former Formula 1 driver Karun Chandhok.

“A happy mistake”

Looking back on the early stages of his career, Hanson makes no secret of how content he is with the path he ended up taking.

“It was a happy mistake,” Hanson told reporters including Crash.net. “I started karting quite late. By the time I'd won the British Championships and wanted to go to cars, I was kind of still in UK karting.

“Other people at that point were in European [championships] and they normally progress into single seaters because there are drivers the years previous to that have all done it. So the teams have got connections and know what the step is, know the contact details of X, Y, and Z.

“In UK karting, it's less similar. The team I was racing for in karting, BKC Racing, had a driver that had gone into cars with them. And the team that he'd gone to to start his driver training was a local team, a family-run team [Tockwith]. And they had kind of persuaded us into going down the endurance route.

“For better or worse, it was a very tough introduction into car racing. They were a very small team and the level is very high in European racing, especially in GTs and the LMP3, which is what we ended up doing eventually to LMP2.

“I found myself a year later of karting, having won the Asian Le Mans series championship with an entry to Le Mans with that same team in LMP2.

“So in a year after karting, I was kind of almost going to Le Mans in LMP2, which is what I ended up doing. So it kind of had fast tracked me into this position of ‘I'm now in LMP2, had done Le Mans’.”

While many drivers are fixated on Formula 1 — sometimes even compromising their careers in pursuit of it — grand prix racing was never something Hanson seriously considered.

“It was never really an aspiration to race in F1 because I transitioned so quickly into endurance racing,” he explained. “And once in endurance racing, I really learned how big of a deal Le Mans was.

“I'd fallen in love with endurance racing and I had seen where there was room to grow and room to improve. I wasn't gonna jump ship when there was still so much to do. And then at that point I was sort of 18-19 [of years of age] with a chance of winning.

“Winning everything at that point it's almost too late to go to single-seaters - and I'd be giving up on everything I'd achieved.

“So all the reputation I'd worked so hard to create for myself, my racing record and winning record that's undeniable throughout all categories in racing was very difficult to give up on, progressing me so far up the sport.

“I didn't want to risk it all then to jump into a single seater where I'd be starting from zero learning about how to manage the tyre and working with a team centred around me is very different to the environment of leaning on your teammates and having your teammates lean on you.”

Move to United

After his maiden Le Mans outing in 2017, a private test with Ligier opened the door to United Autosports, which at that time was the official importer for the French constructor in the UK.

Hanson kicked off his time with United by defending his Asian Le Mans title, then capped off 2018 with back-to-back wins in the European Le Mans Series. That year also saw him race at Le Mans again, and make his Daytona 24 Hours debut alongside Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris.

But with United still fielding the Ligier JS P217, which was no match to the all-conquering Oreca 07 under the new LMP2 ruleset, Hanson’s performances went somewhat under the radar.

It was only after United made the switch to Oreca that Hanson could fully showcase his talent. Teaming up with Paul di Resta and Filipe Albuquerque, he secured a Le Mans win and a WEC title double in the COVID-impacted 2019/20 season, alongside a dominant European Le Mans Series campaign with Albuquerque.

“It was trying to find a better equipped team [after Tockwith], with a better chance of actually being able to compete at the top,” he said.

“And at that point I was still a silver driver, so I brought a lot to the table given that I was very fast and categorised as silver, so,a very strong chance of winning. And then 2019-2020, I had my breakthrough year.

“So five years ago now, we went on to win Le Mans that year in LMP2, WEC and ELMS, which sort of set me up as a staple LMP2 driver.

“Then I went on to have multiple, multiple, multiple victories in WEC and EMS, finishing second in the ELMS twice and third once, and I don't know how many race wins like, 6-7-8 after that point and then into Hypercar.”

Le Mans glory with Ferrari

Indeed, having established himself well in LMP2, an opportunity opened up in Hypercar class in 2024 when Jota Sport expanded to a second customer Porsche 963.

Paired with Jenson Button and Oliver Rasmussen in the No. 38 car — the very car Ye had raced the previous year — the season proved frustrating, with their sister entry claiming podium in Qatar and victory at Spa while the ‘mighty 38’ was dogged by misfortune.

When Jota was announced as Cadillac’s new factory team for 2025, three new GM drivers came onboard, leading to a complete reshuffle of its line-ups.

Hanson instead elected to move to AF Corse’s customer Ferrari entry, replacing IndyCar-bound Robert Shwartzman.

It was a move that paid off big time at La Sarthe as he became the 37th British driver to win Le Mans outright.

Eyes on the future

Looking ahead, Hanson’s ultimate goal is to have a closer association with a manufacturer and become a factory driver in his own right.

While the No. 83 499P is effectively a satellite entry, with Ferrari openly sharing data between all three of its cars, Hanson isn’t a part of the Italian marque’s official roster of drivers (unlike teammate Ye).

“The next step for me is to get into a position to have a long term commitment with a manufacturer,” he explained. “Obviously, that's the next step. But I'm not ruling anything out.

“I still believe the Ferrari is an incredibly competitive package. So I don't necessarily see myself somewhere else next year.

“But at the same time, I'm looking at all the opportunities for the blank piece of paper to make sure that I'm putting myself in the most competitive situation possible for the medium-long term. That's the key for me.

“We've got three manufacturers coming in the next one-two years. So I'm very happy where I am and I'm very happy at Ferrari currently, in AF Corse.

“I'm not ready to necessarily jump ship on this winning package, but also at the same time I'm thinking about the medium and long term. It is a priority for me.”