24h Le Mans
Cars need to refuel 30 times in 24 Hours, so managing pit stops is a tactical affair. Every second counts, and every move is important. Drivers, mechanics and engineers orchestrate their manoeuvres with millimetric precision.
Imagine you’re at the wheel of a Hypercar in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. You’ve been on track for almost an hour. The fuel tank is almost empty, the tyres are losing grip on the corners. It’s about time you stopped by the pit lane. The thought has barely crossed your mind, and you hear “box this lap” over the radio. So, you take the deceleration lane losing as little time as possible, you flick the speed limiter on at the right moment, stop the car in the right spot, marked out by your team, and the rehearsed choreography of precise moves is set in motion around your race car.
Once the tank is refilled, the tyres are changed while you leave the cockpit. You cross paths with your teammate who is already half in the seat you just left. You just have time to give him a couple of snippets of information. In the box, a warm welcome awaits. The pit stop was perfectly executed. Nothing was left to chance. Engineers, mechanics and driver crew have been through the drill many times.
Mathias Beche is one of the three TDS Racing #14 Oreca 07-Gibson drivers. He describes what happens on an “in lap”, when a driver comes into the pit lane. “When you hear “box this lap”, you respond “copy”, to confirm you’ve got the message. Then, on one of the straights, you disconnect your hydration tube. Next, you prepare yourself mentally for the driver change, and the procedures to be executed. A reminder comes just before the Porsche Curves, but you must remain focused. You enter the deceleration lane at just the right speed. There’s a gravel trap there for a reason.” Mistakes can happen: Alessandro Pier Guidi and the #51 Ferrari-AF Corse – Ferrari 499P made its acquaintance last year.
Mathias Beche continues his description. “You tend to come in a bit fast, but there’s less grip here because this part of the track is less used, and it’s very tight. You’ve done three hours in the car at very high speed, so a chicane at 50 kph is a shock. You try not to lose too much speed before you pass the 60 kph sign, but you don’t want to get hit with a penalty for speeding. Once you’re in the pit lane, you get ready for the driver change, and you visualise where you have to stop. The engineer tells you what the situation is. You do your best to stop in exactly the right place. Then you have to remove your harness, disconnect the radio, take off your belts, get out of the car and take your seat insert with you.” Once in the garage, drivers can remove their kit, debrief their stint in a few minutes, find out when their next stint is likely to begin (between 1 and 4 hours) and get some well-earned rest.
Inside the garage, the pit crew are as focused as the driver for this critical phase of the race. Antoine Tico is a mechanic for RD Limited (#48 Oreca 07-Gibson in LMP2). He has a major role at pit stops. “My job is to undo the front wheels. I remove the left and right and a colleague replaces them." A good pit stop is short and smooth. Perfection requires order. And practice. “You try several strategies, according to who does what best. There are several ways to go about things. Ours suits us. The main thing is to do always follow the same procedure." Then reflexes build up gradually. However, perfection isn’t always possible. So you have to deal with the unexpected. “If we lose a nut, we have a spare one on us.” When the engineer gives the signal, it’s time to get ready. “You make sure the bottles of compressed air are open, that the tyres are where they should be, that the wheel gun is switched to unscrew.” The car comes in, and stops within a centimetre of the marks. Toe on the line, the front wheel mechanic must wait for the tank to be filled before performing any operation on the prototype.
What if the car comes in with a visible issue, like a damaged bonnet, for example? “In any case, we fill it up. Then, if the damage looks serious, we’ll bring it in.”
Every pit stop is a crucial moment, coordinated by the track engineer. At TDS Racing, that’s Arthur Trouttet’s job. He looks after the #14 Oreca 07 (LMP2), driven by Kévin Estre, Tobias Lütke and Mathias Beche, whom we met earlier. From his standpoint at the back of the garage or in the cabin on the pit wall, poring over the data screens and the settings, he has an overview of the race situation. He’s the one who calls for a pit stop.
“Usually, we have a pit stop in the 11th lap [in LMP2]. But, if incidents hamper the race, like slow zones or safety cars, the stints are longer.”
"We survey the prototype’s mechanical data on the telemetry to decide when to pit. We say “box this lap” over the radio. Often, we issue a reminder at the exit from Arnage Corner, so the driver doesn’t forget. When we use the radio, we use the driver channel, and all the team mechanics hear the same message. I let the mecanics know how long they have before the tank is full. That way, they can do any necessary cleaning while the car is refuelled. They know that when there are less than 10 seconds left, they must grab the wheels to start the tyre change as soon as refuelling is over. Tyres and drivers are changed at the same time. I survey the operations. My role is to inform the mechanics, and to do a radio check with the driver who has just taken the wheel. We use the radio for crucial information only."
To win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, you need to spend less than an hour on pit stops for refuelling, and tyre and driver changes.
Here are the statistics for the 2025 race:
