2025 24 Hours of Le Mans: Porsche leads Cadillac after first hour

The No.5 Porsche Penske Motorsport car of Julien Andlauer led the opening hour of the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans, after jumping the pole-sitting No.12 Jota Cadillac at the start.

The 93rd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans got underway in cloudy and cool conditions at the Circuit de la Sarthe, with Porsche leading an exciting first 60 minutes of the enduro.

The No.5 Porsche of Andlauer, Michael Christensen and Mathieu Jaminet, stormed into the lead into the Daytona chicane on the opening lap having started third.

The car was able to dart away in the first stint before a fuel stop, after which it was able to cycle back into the lead ahead of the No.12 Jota Cadillac of Will Stevens, Alex Lynn and Norman Nato.

All 21 Hypercars were running at the end of the first hour, though the No.93 Peugeot being driven by Paul Di Resta did have a tangle with the barrier at the Porsche curves and suffered bodywork damage.

The 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans got underway at 4pm local time, with the No.12 Jota Cadillac driven by Will Stevens leading teammate Earl Bamber in the No.38 car through the first two corners.

But a rapid start for the No.5 Porsche of Julien Andlauer saw him jump Bamber’s Cadillac into the Dunlop chicane, before taking the lead from the No.12 into the Daytona chicane.

Andlauer quickly opened up a lead of a couple of seconds and steadily built on that before making a stop for fuel on lap 14.

Once the rest of the Hypercar field had cycled through their first stops, the No.5 Porsche found itself back in the lead ahead of the No.12 Jota Cadillac.

As the clock clicked into the second hour, the lead for the No.5 Porsche was around six seconds over Stevens in the No.12 Cadillac.

Bamber fended off a late attack from the No.50 Ferrari being driven by Nicklas Nielsen, though remained under immense pressure for third as the second hour began.

Running fifth at the end of the first hour was the No.5 Porsche Penske car of Kevin Estre, who came from 21st and last in class at the start.

At the end of lap one, the No.6 was up to 15th and continued his march through the field up to the pitstop phase, after which he emerged in the top five.

He headed the No.311 Whelen Cadillac of Jack Aitken, with the No.20 BMW of Rene Rast, the No.51 Ferrari of James Calado, the No.8 Toyota of Sebastien Buemi and the No.15 BMW of Kevin Magnussen rounded out the top 10.

The No.7 Toyota driven by Mike Conway made little progress from 17th on the grid and was 13th at the end of the first hour.

The No.007 Aston Martin pitted early on due to a slow puncture and was second-to-last at the end of hour one.

The No.93 Peugeot being driven by Paul Di Resta got caught out by a GT car going through the Porsche Curves and speared off into the barrier.

Di Resta clipped the tyre wall, which ripped the rear bodywork off his car - though he was able to get back to pits for new parts and rejoined in last.

Inter Europol lead frantic LMP2 chase, Lexus top in LMGT3

The LMP2 lead changed hands several times over the first hour due to early fuel stops for the class.

After a chaotic first hour, the No.43 Inter Europol entry of Tom Dillmann led the way from the No.28 IDEC Sport car.

The No.22 United Autosports entry of David Heinemeier Hansson was involved in a tangle with the No.193 Ziggo Sport Tempesta Ferrari GT3 car at the Dunlop chicane.

The pair tangled as the former tried to pass on the inside, while an unsafe rejoin has led to a stewards’ investigation into the incident. Both cars carried on.

In LMGT3, the No.78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus found itself in the lead after the opening hour, while the No.46 WRT BMW was second having faded to fifth at one stage.