Eighteen of the 186 drivers having previously competed in a Formula 1 grand prix, and here they all are…
F1 drivers competing in the 2024 Le Mans 24 Hours
#38 Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963: Jenson Button
Photo by: Marc Fleury
• Team: Hertz Team JOTA
• Le Mans 24 Hours starts: 2
• Le Mans 24 Hours wins: 0
• F1 race starts: 306
• F1 wins: 15
Button is returning to Le Mans 24 Hours for his third attempt at the WEC race.
The British driver’s previous two appearances at Le Mans – one in 2018 competing with SMP Racing which ended in an engine-caused DNF, and another in 2023 as part of the experimental Garage 56 entry, racing a modified NASCAR Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 alongside Jimmie Johnson and Mike Rockenfeller.
Button spent 17 years in Formula 1, driving with Williams, Benetton, Renault, BAR, Honda, Brawn and McLaren and won the 2009 world championship. He has tried several different motorsports since the end of his F1 career, including Super GT, sportscar racing, NASCAR Cup and even an Extreme E outing.
Button will drive a Porsche 963 for Hertz Team JOTA alongside current WEC drivers Oliver Rasmussen and Phil Hansen.
#19 Lamborghini Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63: Romain Grosjean
Photo by: Shameem Fahath
• Team: Lamborghini Iron Lynx
• Le Mans 24 Hours starts: 1
• Le Mans 24 Hours wins: 0
• F1 race starts: 179
• F1 wins: 0
Grosjean is one of the most well-known names to leave F1 in recent years, with the French-Swiss spending a drama-filled 10 seasons in the series. During his time he took 10 podiums, with a second at the 2012 Canadian GP and 2013 US GP, but it’s his exit from F1 which is most memorable.
Grosjean’s final race was 2020 Bahrain GP where his Haas made contact with Daniil Kvyat, pitching him into a barrier before his car burst into flames. He thankfully escaped the fire, although he burned his hands, and gaining the nickname of ‘The Phoenix’ on his switch to IndyCar for 2021.
He spent a year with Dale Coyne Racing, two with Andretti Autosport and is currently racing with Juncos Hollinger Racing. While he’s yet to take a race win, he has had six podiums.
Alongside his IndyCar responsibilities, Grosjean competes for Lamborghini Iron Lynx in the IMSA SportsCar championship. He will remain with the team for its Le Mans 24 Hours attempt this year, competing alongside his team-mates Matteo Cairoli and Andrea Caldarelli.
Daniil Kvyat – Hypercar
#63 Lamborghini Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63: Daniil Kvyat
Photo by: Alexander Trienitz
• Team: Lamborghini Iron Lynx
• Le Mans 24 Hours starts: 1
• Le Mans 24 Hours wins: 0
• F1 race starts: 110
• F1 wins: 0
Kvyat will be hoping to reverse his luck at the Le Mans 24 Hours after competing with Prema Racing in 2023. The team were forced to retire the car on lap 113 after a big accident where he ripped the rear wing off and severely damaged the car having crashed during the night.
Kvyat moved into endurance racing after spending a year with Alpine as its reserve driver in 2021. He’d previously spent eight seasons in F1, starting at Toro Rosso in 2014 before replacing Ferrari-bound Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull in 2015. After a mixed first four races of the 2016 season, Kvyat was demoted back to Toro Rosso, with team bosses deciding to replace him at Red Bull with Max Verstappen.
Following a challenging season, which saw just three top-10 finishes, he was dropped midway through 2017, only to return as stand-in at the US GP, before being left without a seat for 2018. He was named as a third driver for Ferrari, but made no starts for the team, before then moving back for his third stint at Toro Rosso in 2019-20 when his F1 career came to a close.
The 30-year-old will compete with his current WEC team Lamborghini Iron Lynx with his team-mates Mirko Bortolotti and Edoardo Mortara.
#83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Robert Kubica
Photo by: Marc Fleury
• Team: AF Corse
• Le Mans 24 Hours starts: 3
• Le Mans 24 Hours wins: 0
• F1 race starts: 99
• F1 wins: 1
Kubica made his Formula 1 debut at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix for Sauber but was disqualified for his car being underweight. He then spent three full seasons with the team between 2007 and 2009, claiming one race win at the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix.
Kubica moved to Renault for the 2010 and 2011 seasons and alongside his F1 role, he took part in rallying. At the 2011 Ronde di Andora Rally, he suffered a life-changing accident when his car left the road at high speed and crashed into a barrier.
Kubica spent over an hour trapped inside his car as workers tried to extricate him before he was flown to hospital. Due to the severity of his injuries, he missed the 2011 season with Renault and was replaced by Nick Heidfeld.
He returned to racing the following year, predominantly in rallying, before returning to F1 as a test driver for Renault and Williams in 2017. Kubica completed a full comeback in 2019 with Williams but a woeful car meant he was only able to score one top-10 finish.
After one season in the DTM in 2020 and a test and reserve role at Alfa Romeo between 2020-22, which saw him back two further grand prix starts at Zandvoort and Monza, when Kimi Raikkonen was sidelined by COVID-19, Kubica made his transition into sportscar racing.
Kubica takes on his fourth attempt at Le Mans 24 Hours this year, with his previous three starts all frustrating near-misses for victory in LMP2.
A broken throttle sensor while leading with three minutes to go denied Kubica the LMP2 class win on debut with WRT alongside Yifei Ye and Louis Deletraz in 2021, which was followed by consecutive runner-up finishes in 2022 and 2023.
In 2024, he joins AF Corse for his first attempt at the endurance race in the Hypercar class, alongside Robert Shwartzman and Ye.
Kamui Kobayashi, Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 – Hybrid
Photo by: Rainier Ehrhardt
• Team: Toyota Gazoo Racing
• Le Mans 24 Hours starts: 9
• Le Mans 24 Hours wins: 1 (Toyota Gazoo Racing – 2021)
• F1 race starts: 75
• F1 wins: 0
Kobayashi will race in the Hypercar category, driving Toyota Gazoo Racing’s GR010 Hybrid alongside Nyck de Vries and Jose Maria Lopez, who stands in for the injured Mike Conway in the #8 car. The Japanese driver is also the team principal of the Toyota squad.
He raced in Formula 1 between 2009-14, missing the 2013 season, before joining the Caterham team in 2014. Despite scoring 125 points from 75 starts, Kobayashi only appeared on the podium once – a third place at his home race in 2012.
He has had an illustrious motorsport career, which includes the 2019-20 and 2021 WEC championship titles. For the last six years, Kobayashi has competed in the Le Mans 24 Hours alongside team-mates Lopez and Conway, with the trio claiming the victory in 2021.
#51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P of Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
• Team: Ferrari AF Course
• Le Mans 24 Hours starts: 2
• Le Mans 24 Hours wins: 1 (Ferrari AF Corse – 2023)
• F1 race starts: 62
• F1 wins: 0
Giovinazzi will be attempting to emulate his previous result at the Le Mans 24 Hours, having taken victory in 2023 with Ferrari AF Corse. He will continue with last year’s team-mates James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi.
Giovinazzi made his F1 debut for Sauber in 2017 as a substitute for Pascal Wehrlein at the Australian and Chinese grands prix, as the German driver had injured his neck during a crash at the Race of Champions. He then spent three full seasons with Alfa Romeo between 2019 and 2021 but was unable to finish higher than 17th in the championship, with nine points finishes from 62 starts.
The Italian left the team at the end of the 2021 season but has held a reserve driver position at Ferrari since.
He spent one season in Formula E with Dragon Penske Autosport but finished 23rd in the championship with no points.
Giovinazzi has competed in WEC since 2023 with Ferrari AF Corse and helped the team claim their first outright win in 50 years at the 2023 Le Mans 24 Hours after its last top-class entry in 1973.
#94 Peugeot Totalenergies Peugeot 9X8: Paul Di Resta
Photo by: Marc Fleury
• Team: Peugeot TotalEnergies
• Le Mans 24 Hours starts: 5
• Le Mans 24 Hours wins: 1 (United Autosports – LMP2 class win – 2020)
• F1 race starts: 59
• F1 wins: 0
Di Resta has forged a career in sportscars since 2019 after ending his full-time stint in DTM in the same season.
He had previously completed four Le Mans 24 Hours with United Autosports in LMP2, bringing home a class win in 2020. Di Resta joined the team in 2018, taking part in Asian Le Mans where he took three second-place finishes and one win, which gave the team the championship victory.
Di Resta joined Force India F1 Team in 2010 but didn’t make his race debut until the following year, going on to complete three full seasons. He made a one-off return at the 2017 Hungarian GP at Williams when he stood in for the unwell Felipe Massa.
He joined Peugeot TotalEnergies in 2022 and will compete in his second Le Mans 24 Hours with the team, alongside his team-mates Vandoorne and Loic Duval.
Jean-Eric Vergne, Peugeot Totalenergies
Photo by: Nikolaz Godet
• Team: Peugeot TotalEnergies
• Le Mans 24 Hours starts: 5
• Le Mans 24 Hours wins: 0
• F1 race starts: 58
• F1 wins: 0
This will be the Frenchman’s sixth attempt at Le Mans, with his best result being fifth in the LMP2 class in 2020. In 2018 Vergne’s #26 G-Drive entry had won the LMP2 class but was disqualified post-race for an illegal refueling component.
The two-time Formula E champion spent three seasons with Toro Rosso in Formula 1 between 2012 and 2014. He was left without a seat when the team chose an all-new line-up of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz for 2015.
Vergne will compete at this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours with Peugeot TotalEnergies, alongside his team-mates Mikkel Jensen and Nico Muller.
Sebastien Buemi – Hypercar
Sebastien Buemi, Toyota Gazoo Racing
Photo by: Rainier Ehrhardt
• Team: Toyota Gazoo Racing
• Le Mans 24 Hours starts: 12
• Le Mans 24 Hours wins: 4 (Toyota Gazoo Racing – 2018, 2019, 2020 & 2022)
• F1 race starts: 55
• F1 wins: 0
Buemi will race for Toyota Gazoo Racing alongside his previous team-mates Ryo Hirakawa and Brendon Hartley. The trio have competed in the Le Mans 24 Hours together for the past two years, winning in 2022 and finishing runner-up in 2023.
He has taken four victories at the endurance event with a further four overall podium finishes and has driven for Toyota at each of his 12 appearances at Le Mans.
Prior to his endurance exploits the Swiss driver spent three seasons driving for Toro Rosso, lining up on the grid between 2009-2011, but was replaced by Daniel Ricciardo after being unable to score more than a handful of top-10 finishes each season. He then became the Red Bull reserve driver but has not made another grand prix start during that time.
Buemi moved to Formula E in 2014, taking the championship title for the 2015-16 season after an intense battle with Lucas di Grassi. Buemi has remained in the series since leaving F1 and has two runner-up finishes in the 2016-17 and 2018-19 seasons.
Mick Schumacher, Alpine Endurance Team
Photo by: Nikolaz Godet
• Team: Alpine Endurance Team
• Le Mans 24 Hours starts: 0
• Le Mans 24 Hours wins: 0
• F1 race starts: 43
• F1 wins: 0
Schumacher is currently competing in the WEC championship with Alpine in the #36 car alongside team-mates Matthieu Vaxiviere and Nicolas Lapierre.
The son of seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher, Mick made his Formula 1 debut with Haas in 2021 but was only able to take two top-10 finishes during his two years with the team. He was replaced by Nico Hulkenberg for 2023 and moved to Mercedes as its reserve driver.
Despite a disappointing run in F1, Schumacher had shown promise in the junior series, having taken the F2 championship in 2020 and European F3 in 2018. He is currently one of the potential candidates to replace Esteban Ocon at Alpine in 2025.
#94 Peugeot Totalenergies Peugeot 9X8: Stoffel Vandoorne
Photo by: Marc Fleury
• Team: Peugeot TotalEnergies
• Le Mans 24 Hours starts: 2
• Le Mans 24 Hours wins: 0
• F1 race starts: 42
• F1 wins: 0
Vandoorne will compete in his third Le Mans 24 Hours after taking an overall podium finish on debut in 2019 with SMP Racing and coming runner-up in the LMP2 class with Jota in 2021.
The 2021-22 Formula E world champion spent two full seasons in F1 with McLaren but finished 16th in the championship in both 2017 and 2018. Since then Vandorne has spent stints as a test and reserve driver at Mercedes, McLaren and Aston Martin.
He races for Peugeot TotalEnergies alongside his team-mates Paul di Resta and Loic Duval.
#4 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 of Mathieu Jaminet, Felipe Nasr, Nick Tandy
Photo by: Nikolaz Godet
• Team: Porsche Penske Motorsport
• Le Mans 24 Hours starts: 4
• Le Mans 24 Hours wins: 0
• F1 race starts: 39
• F1 wins: 0
Nasr is competing for Porsche Penske Motorsport in the Hypercar class as part of its third entry alongside fellow IMSA regular Nick Tandy and factory driver Mathieu Jaminet.
Nasr is no stranger to endurance racing, taking the outright win at the 2024 Daytona 24 Hours, GTD Pro victory for Pfaff Porsche in 2022 plus a further three podiums at the event in 2012, 2018 and 2019.
The Brazilian previously spent two seasons in F1 between 2015-16, where he raced for Sauber.
He is currently contesting the 2024 IMSA SportsCar championship with his team-mate Dane Cameron, with the pair currently leading the drivers’ standings.
Sebastien Bourdais – Hypercar
#3 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Sebastien Bourdais
Photo by: Rainier Ehrhardt
• Team: Cadillac Racing
• Le Mans 24 Hours starts: 16
• Le Mans 24 Hours wins: 1 (Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA – GTE Pro class win – 2016)
• F1 race starts: 27
• F1 wins: 0
Bourdais will compete in the Hypercar class of Le Mans 24 Hours for Cadillac Racing. This will be the Frenchman’s second year with the American team and his 17th year entering the endurance event.
For the 2024 Le Mans 24 Hours Bourdais will be partnered with 2016 IMSA SportsCar champion Renger van de Zande and six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon.
He previously took a GTE Pro class win in 2016 for Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA with his team-mates Joey Hand and Dirk Muller. He has also come close to an overall victory on several occasions, taking the runner-up position in 2007, 2009 and 2011.
Bourdais made his debut in Formula 1 for Toro Rosso in 2008, having won the Champ Car series for the previous four years. Bourdais spent just a year and a half with the team, including a full season as team-mates with Sebastian Vettel.
In 2009 he was partnered with Sebastien Buemi, but despite two points finishes he was unable to match the performance of his team-mate and after just nine races the team announced that he would be replaced by Jaime Alguersuari.
Bourdais has an illustrious motorsport career outside of Formula 1 though, including victories at the Spa 24 Hours (2002), Daytona 24 Hours (2014) and Sebring 12 Hours (2021). Alongside his Le Mans GTE Pro victory in 2016, he also claimed the GTLM class win at Daytona the following year.
Brendon Hartley – Hypercar
#8 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 – Hybrid of Brendon Hartley
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
• Team: Toyota Gazoo Racing
• Le Mans 24 Hours starts: 10
• Le Mans 24 Hours wins: 3 (Porsche Team – 2017, Toyota Gazoo Racing – 2020 & 2022)
• F1 race starts: 25
• F1 wins: 0
Hartley will rejoin Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa for his 11th attempt at the Le Mans 24 Hours.
He has been with Toyota Gazoo Racing since 2019 and has taken two out of his three Le Mans wins with the team – the other with Porsche in 2017. He has also had a further three overall podium finishes at the endurance event including coming runner-up in 2015 when competing with his team-mates Mark Webber and Timo Bernhard.
Hartley has taken four WEC titles during his career in 2015, 2017, 2022 and 2023.
The New Zealander had a brief stint in Formula 1, taking the Toro Rosso seat for the last four races of 2017. He remained with the team for the 2018 season but had just three top-10 finishes and was replaced by Alex Albon.
Hartley made his Formula E debut the following year but was dropped with immediate effect after just five races where he was only able to score one top-10 finish.
He returned to WEC in 2019, to replace Jenson Button at the 1000 Miles of Sebring before taking on the next day’s 12 Hours of Sebring for SMP Racing and Mustang Sampling Racing respectively. Despite an “exhausting” weekend for the Kiwi, he was able to help secure podiums at both races.
#12 Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963: William Stevens
Photo by: Shameem Fahath
• Team: Hertz Team Jota
• Le Mans 24 Hours starts: 8
• Le Mans 24 Hours wins: 2 (JMW Motorsport – GTE Am Class – 2017, Jota Sport – LMP2 – 2022)
• F1 race starts: 18
• F1 wins: 0
Stevens will be looking to claim an outright Le Mans 24 Hours victory after taking two previous class wins in 2017 and 2022. He will return to the Hertz Team Jota for a second year with Callum Ilott and Norman Nato.
He made his debut in Formula 1 driving for Caterham during the final race of the 2014 season, but the team collapsed before reaching the next season. He then joined Marussia for the 2015 season but was unable to finish higher than 13th in uncompetitive machinery.
Nyck de Vries – Hypercar
#7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 – Hybrid: Nyck De Vries
Photo by: Marc Fleury
• Team: Toyota Gazoo Racing
• Le Mans 24 Hours starts: 4
• Le Mans 24 Hours wins: 0
• F1 race starts: 11
• F1 wins: 0
De Vries will join Kobayashi and Mike Conway stand-in Jose Maria Lopez in the #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing for his fifth start in the race but first in the top class, with his previous entries in LMP2 between 2019-22.
The 2020-21 Formula E champion made his move into Formula 1 after standing in for Alex Albon at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix when the Thai-British driver underwent appendix surgery.
De Vries joined AlphaTauri – now RB – in 2023 alongside Yuki Tsunoda but failed to impress. The Dutch driver was unable to finish in the top 10 and after the first 10 races of the season, he was replaced by Daniel Ricciardo.
He has since moved back to Formula E and races with Mahindra Racing alongside his WEC duties for Toyota.
#311 Whelen Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-SeriesR: Jack Aitken
Photo by: Alexander Trienitz
• Team: Action Express Racing
• Le Mans 24 Hours starts: 2
• Le Mans 24 Hours wins: 0
• F1 race starts: 1
• F1 wins: 0
Aitken will attempt his third Le Mans 24 Hours and his second with the Action Express Racing team this year. This will be his second year driving alongside team-mate Pipo Derani, who is the winner of the 2016 24 Hours of Daytona, and his first with Aston Martin F1 reserve driver Felipe Drugovich.
Aitken made his F1 debut at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix to cover for George Russell at Williams – when Russell had been called to stand in for Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes after he contracted COVID-19.
He remained with the team until the start of 2023, when he decided to part ways with the team to focus on his sportscar career.
#6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Andre Lotterer
Photo by: Nikolaz Godet
• Team: Porsche Penske Motorsport
• Le Mans 24 Hours starts: 12
• Le Mans 24 Hours wins: 3 (Audi Sport Team Joest – 2011, 2012 & 2014)
• F1 race starts: 1
• F1 wins: 0
Lotterer is a three-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner, taking victories with Audi Sport Team Joest in 2011, 2012 and 2014 and two further podium finishes in 2010 and 2015. While most well-known for his endurance and Formula E racing, the German did have an incredibly short stint in Formula 1, replacing Kamui Kobayashi at Caterham F1 for a one-off race in 2014 at the Belgian Grand Prix.
He outperformed his team-mate Marcus Ericsson, but still only qualified 21st of the 22 drivers. However, his debut came to a fast end after his car faced a mechanical failure on the first lap.
The German has been part of Porsche’s Hypercar programme since it began last year and is team-mates with Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor in the #6 entry that starts the 2024 Le Mans 24 Hours on pole position.
