Le Mans 24 Hours: Hypercar Hyperpole debrief

Hyperpole 1

This analysis dives into the lap times, sector performances, and top speeds to uncover which drivers and teams excelled in the Hypercar Hyperpole for the 2025 24 hours of Le Mans. Jack Aitken (#311 Cadillac Whelen) set the fastest lap at 3:22.742, narrowly beating his competitors, while Porsche achieved the highest top speed of 342.3 km/h, demonstrating their straight-line prowess.

Fastest Lap Times by Driver

Jack Aitken’s 3:22.742 lap in the Cadillac Whelen car was the fastest, followed closely by Sébastien Bourdais and Robin Frijns.

Average Sector Times by Manufacturer

Ferrari and Porsche showed strong performance in Sector 2, while Cadillac and BMW were competitive in Sector 1. Sector 3 saw more variability, with Toyota struggling slightly.

When we break down the fastest sector by driver, we see that Jack Aitken was the fastest in sectors 1 and 3 but was only fifth fastest in sector 2, putting in a time of 1:18.235. This was nearly three-tenths slower than the fastest sector 2 time, posted by Miguel Molina driving the #50 Ferrari with 1:17.966.

Molina could have taken the fastest time overall, having posted the fourth quickest time through sector 3—just 0.272 seconds slower than Aitken—but a dismal first sector saw the Ferrari driver place fifteenth with 32.329 seconds compared with Aitken’s 31.801—almost half a second slower.

When comparing the ideal lap time against the best lap time we find that the top 5 all matched their ideal times. The #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA broke this trend with an ideal time of 3:23.471 but being nearly two-tenths slower at 3:23.641, giving them sixth best ideal time but eighth best actual time.

The ideal time is simply a drivers best sectors in the session with each sector time likely being set on different laps. The fact that 5 cars, the #311 Cadillac Whelen (Jack Aitkin), #38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA (Sebastian Bourdais), #20 BMW M Team WRT (Robin Frijns), #50 Ferrari AF Corse (Miguel Molina) and #36 Alpine Endurance Team (Mick Schumacher) all matched their best times is impressive but not unusual.

Further down the field, other cars were also matching their ideal time such as the #83 AF Corse Ferrari of Yifei Ye who posted the 14th ideal time but matching that time gave him the 13th best time. This was ahead of the #101 Cadillac WTR of Ricky Taylor which posted the 13th ideal time, .117 seconds faster than the Ferrari but was unable to match it, managing a best time that was .484 slower than Ye.

Top Speeds by Manufacturer

Manufacturer	Top Speed (km/h)	Driver	Lap Number
Porsche	342.3	Felipe Nasr	3
Ferrari	341.3	Miguel Molina	2
Cadillac	340.2	Will Stevens	6
Alpine	339.1	Paul-Loup Chatin	6
BMW	337.0	Robin Frijns	3
Aston Martin	333.9	Marco Sørensen	3
Toyota	333.9	Brendon Hartley	2

Porsche’s top speed of 342.3 km/h by Felipe Nasr in the #4 Porsche Penske stands out, suggesting that they may have an aerodynamic advantage on the straights. Toyota’s Brendon Hartley managed only 333.9 km/h—on par with Aston Martin’s Marco Sørensen but 9 km/h down on Porsche—which was reflected in his sector times: third quickest in sector 1, only tenth in sector 2, then eighth in sector 3.

Hyperpole 2

Hyperpole 2 delivered another intriguing battle with Alex Lynn (#12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA) setting the fastest lap at 3:23.166, followed closely by Earl Bamber in the #38 sister Cadillac and Mathieu Jaminet in the #5 Porsche Penske Motorsport.

Average Sector Times by Manufacturer

Porsche excelled in Sector 2 with the fastest average times, while Cadillac and BMW showed strength in Sector 1. Sector 3 saw Alpine and Ferrari trailing slightly, indicating potential setup challenges.

Lynn took the fastest times in sector 1 and sector 3 whilst having a disappointing run in sector 2, delivering a time of 1:18.796—over half a second slower than Mathieu Jaminet’s 1:18.128 in the #5 Porsche Penske Motorsport car.

When comparing ideal laps with best laps, unlike in Hyperpole 1 where the top 5 matched their times, no one repeated the trick in Hyperpole 2. The #12 Cadillac led with an ideal lap of 3:23.142 but could only produce a best lap of 3:23.166. The #38 Cadillac was second, just 0.077 seconds off its ideal lap.

The #5 Porsche in third place was the first car to match its ideal lap, posting 3:23.475, followed by the #15 BMW M Team WRT matching its time of 3:23.659. Overall fewer cars matched their ideal time in this session, those being the #5 Porsche Penske Motorsport (Mathieu Jaminet), #15 BMW M Team WRT (Dries Vanthoor) and #4 Porsche Penske Motorsport (Nick Tandy). This compares with 9 cars in the previous session.

Top Speeds by Manufacturer

Manufacturer	Top Speed (km/h)	Driver	Lap Number
Porsche	338.1	Mathieu Jaminet	3
Ferrari	338.1	Antonio Fuoco	2
Alpine	337.0	Frédéric Makowiecki	4
Cadillac	334.9	Felipe Drugovich	2
BMW	333.9	Dries Vanthoor	4
Toyota	331.8	Sébastien Buemi	2