'Any team could win' in Le Mans' 'spaceship' hypercars

The Le Mans 24 Hours begins at 15:00 BST on Saturday

Even during a period of domination by one driver, it’s difficult for fans to turn away from Formula 1’s relentless global schedule.

But as a sleepy corner of north-west France is awoken by the furious blast of sportscars, we are reminded that everything in motorsport stops for Le Mans.

And its popularity is back on the rise; no longer a grimy event from a bygone era, this year has seen it grow into a modern phenomenon where anyone can win, and everyone seems to want to be.

"The last few years there were only about three manufacturers, now there’s 11," says Callum Ilott, 25, who joined the Jota team for this season and drives a Porsche 963 in the top-level hypercar class.

"We're able to win, we're able to be on the podium… everyone here is able to win."

No one knows this better than Ilott, who took victory at the last race in Le Mans’ over-arching eight-round World Endurance Championship in May’s 6 Hours of Spa.

"It was great - a first win for a British team in a long time and a privateer team in a long time. To beat those manufacturers is an incredible thing. We're currently second in the championship and beating a lot of big dogs."

This new era follows a lean period where sportscars struggled for relevance as many manufacturers switched to alternative racing series such as the all-electric Formula E.

A change in the rules back in 2021 gave birth to hypercars, in which teams can approach the sport with differing design philosophies allowing them to innovate – all bound together by the organisers’ ‘balance of performance’ rule, which limits certain aspects - such as horsepower - for each car, but which creates a level playing field for teams to win races with strategy on tyres and energy usage.

An antidote to domination in Formula 1?

It's an approach which has had its criticisms, but one which has created varied results, battles on track and seen many of the world’s biggest car manufacturers return, including Peugeot, BMW, Porsche, General Motors, Lamborghini and last year’s shock Le Mans winners Ferrari.

Already this season, there have been three different winners from three different teams, including Jota, who are a customer of the works Porsche Penske team.

"You get pretty much the same platform or hardware as [a customer] and you have to get it tuned the best way possible. Every team has different philosophies," adds Ilott, who has also raced in Formula 2 and had a stint as Alfa Romeo reserve driver in F1 before racing in IndyCar until this year.

"Hypercars are complex – there’s a lot of powertrain similarities to F1 cars, a lot of electronics... to have cars built in a completely different way to a similar specification, it is incredible to be racing so close. And there’s multiple categories [at Le Mans]… GT and LMP2 cars - a lot of different factors come into play with strategy."

Regardless of who has qualified where on the grid, no one knows who will take victory after 24 hours of racing, and this unpredictability is a breath of fresh air to those who have moved over to endurance racing from F1.

"I think the [Ferrari 499P] is a great car to drive," says Ferrari’s Antonio Giovinazzi, formerly of Sauber and Alfa Romeo in F1.

"It is more heavy [than an F1 car], but what I like is that you overtake cars every lap - it’s intense. I just love a championship where you share the car with three other drivers."

Le Mans celebrated its 100th anniversary last year and 300,000 are expected to watch three drivers share each car across 24 hours

'An incredible feeling'

Other former F1 drivers on the grid this year include 2009 world champion Jenson Button – lining up in the sister Jota Porsche to Ilott – Romain Grosjean, Daniil Kvyat and Robert Kubica.

Four-time F1 champion Sebastian Vettel tested a Porsche earlier this year, and even McLaren’s current man of the moment Lando Norris told this writer he would happily race at Le Mans in a hypercar, as likely would three-world champion Max Verstappen.

But it’s not as simple as that in motorsport. And McLaren and Red Bull would likely have to join a queue to get involved, standing behind the already announced return of Aston Martin to hypercar next year.

"F1 is no more technologically advanced as hypercar," says Button. "[The cars] have 38 pages of instructions just for what the steering wheel does - there are so many switches… it blows your mind.

"I used to watch Le Mans in the '80s, so to go back is really exciting."

Ilott used to watch Button as a kid, and now "it feels a little strange to be in the same team as him, having a laugh and hearing the stories".

But it’s the majesty of the cars which seems to engage a new generation of young talent and old champions who feel the energy of this era.

"The car looks like a spaceship, it’s so cool and futuristic," adds Ilott. "Especially at night, everything lights up. Driving down the straights at 210mph in the middle of the night, it’s an incredible feeling."

Ilott, left, and fellow Briton Will Stevens claimed victory at Spa last time out