Every former Formula 1 driver on the 2026 Le Mans 24 Hours grid

Fifteen former Formula 1 drivers will take to the grid for the Le Mans 24 Hours this weekend. Most drivers with past grand prix experience will be racing in the flagship Hypercar class, which is an indicator of their calibre.

For the longest time, sportscar racing has been an attractive alternative destination for drivers who couldn’t quite make a mark in the pinnacle of motorsport.

While many are forced to move away from single-seaters before making it to F1, there are enough examples of drivers spending a few years in F1 and later becoming successful in sportscar racing.

Compared to 2025, two major star drivers are missing in Hypercar. Jenson Button, who raced for Cadillac’s factory Jota team, has retired from professional motorsport, while Mick Schumacher has left WEC to race in IndyCar for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

Kamui Kobayashi

#7 Toyota Racing Toyota TR010 Hybrid: Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck De Vries, Esteban Masson, Sebastien Buemi

Photo by: Rainier Ehrhardt

Car: #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid
Former F1 team(s): Toyota, Sauber, Caterham
Best F1 result: Third

Kamui Kobayashi will make his 12th appearance at Le Mans this year, as he continues to fulfil his twin duties as driver and team principal at Toyota Racing. Kobayashi’s credentials in sportscar racing are well known, with the Japanese having won the 2021 race outright and claimed two top-class (LMP1/Hypercar) titles in the WEC. Toyota is expected to be one of the favourites for victory at Le Mans in 2026.

Prior to his WEC foray, Kobayashi competed in F1, most notably for BMW/Sauber in the early 2010s. The highlight of his grand prix stint was a podium finish on home turf at the 2012 Japanese GP. 

Nyck de Vries

#7 Toyota Racing Toyota TR010 Hybrid: Nyck De Vries

Photo by: Marc Fleury

Car #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid
Former F1 team(s): Williams, AlphaTauri
Best F1 result: 9th

Nyck de Vries has re-established himself in sportscar racing in the last few years, becoming an important figure within Toyota’s Hypercar programme. After making a name for himself in the LMP2 class with Racing Team Nederland and in Formula E with Mercedes, de Vries earned an opportunity with the Japanese marque in 2024, and has since scored two outright WEC wins. 

The Dutchman’s F1 career, however, was short-lived. After joining AlphaTauri at the age of 28, de Vries was dropped by the team just 11 races into his rookie season.

Sebastien Buemi

#8 Toyota Racing Toyota TR010 Hybrid: Sebastien Buemi

Photo by: Marc Fleury

Car: #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid
Former F1 teams: Toro Rosso
Best F1 result: 7th

Having first joined Toyota in 2023, Sebastien Buemi has lived through the highs and lows of the team’s LMP1 and Hypercar programmes. He holds the record for the most race wins in the WEC (27), as well as the joint record for the most top-class titles (four). The Swiss racer also started the season with a victory in the Imola opener.

Buemi, who is also a former Formula E champion, achieved little success during his three years in F1 with Toro Rosso. While he performed reasonably well during his first two seasons, he was comfortably outscored by his team-mate Jaime Alguersuari in 2013.

Brendon Hartley

#8 Toyota Racing Toyota TR010 Hybrid: Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa, Mike Conway, Esteban Masson

Photo by: Rainier Ehrhardt

Car: #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid
Former F1 team(s): Toro Rosso
Best F1 result: 9th

Together with Buemi, Brendon Hartley holds the record for most top-class titles in the WEC. The Kiwi was a part of Porsche’s all-conquering 919 Hybrid programme in the mid-2010s, which saw him win some of the biggest prizes in endurance racing. After Porsche’s LMP1 project was culled, he moved to Toyota in 2018, and has since scored several wins and championships.

However, things never really clicked for Hartley during his time in F1 with Toro Rosso. In his sole full-season in F1, he could only manage four points, while his team-mate Pierre Gasly scored 29 during the same period.

Will Stevens

#12 Cadillac Hertz Team Jota Cadillac V-Series.R: Louis Deletraz, Will Stevens, Norman Nato

Photo by: Sjoerd van der Wal/Getty Images

Car: #12 Cadillac V-Series.R
Former F1 team(s): Caterham, Marussia
Best F1 result: 13th

After scoring class wins at Le Mans in both GTE Am and LMP2, Will Stevens made his way to Hypercar in 2023 with Jota. Both of Jota’s top-class wins in WEC have come with Stevens as one of its drivers. With Cadillac expected to be in the victory hunt, the Brit should be right in the mix at Le Mans this year.

Stevens raced in F1 in 2015, driving for Marussia in the team’s final season. Given the dire financial state of Marussia and its competitive struggles, he failed to score a point.

Andre Lotterer

#17 Genesis Magma Racing Genesis GMR-001-Hypercar: Andre Lotterer

Photo by: Marc Fleury

Car: #17 Genesis GMR-001
Former F1 team(s): Caterham
Best F1 result: DNF

Andre Lotterer is a veteran of sportscar racing, having won three LMP1 wins and an overall title with Audi. He also claimed a Hypercar title with Porsche in 2024, and is now helping lead Genesis’ entry into the WEC. He has started 74 races in the championship to date.

Lotterer made just one start in F1, replacing Kobayashi at Caterham in the 2014 Belgian GP. He outqualified his team-mate Marcus Ericsson. Unfortunately, his race ended on just the second lap due to an electrical failure.

Sebastien Bourdais

#38 Cadillac Hertz Team Jota Cadillac V-Series.R: Sebastien Bourdais, Earl Bamber, Jack Aitken, Will Stevens, Norman Nato

Photo by: Rainier Ehrhardt

Car: #38 Cadillac V-Series.R
Former F1 team(s): Toro Rosso
Best F1 result: 7th

Sebastien Bourdais is easily one of the most experienced and accomplished racers at Le Mans this year. While his four CART titles stand out on his CV, he has also scored one class win at Le Mans and an outright victory at the Daytona 24. He is still chasing his first victory in Hypercar, however.

Bourdais’ short-lived F1 career yielded little in terms of results, not least because Toro Rosso was struggling in its early years. He was dropped halfway through his second season in 2009 in favour of Alguersuari.

Jack Aitken

#311 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R: Jack Aitken

Photo by: Marc Fleury

Car: #38 Cadillac V-Series.R
Former F1 team(s): Williams
Best F1 result: 16th

Jack Aitken arrives at this year’s Le Mans as the championship leader in IMSA’s GTP class. His three previous Le Mans appearances with Action Express Racing yielded little in terms of results. But he now has a much better shot with Jota, which, unlike AXR, is a full-season WEC entrant.

The Brit made his one and only F1 appearance at the 2020 Sakhir GP, when Lewis Hamilton’s COVID-enforced absence triggered a chain reaction and opened up a seat at Williams. He lapped within a tenth of team-mate Latifi on Bahrain’s shorter layout, but finished the race in 16th after a spin.

Antonio Giovinazzi

#51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Antonio Giovinazzi

Photo by: Marc Fleury

Car: #51 Ferrari 499P
Former F1 team(s): Sauber, Alfa Romeo
Best F1 result: fifth

Antonio Giovinazzi has been a huge part of Ferrari’s WEC success, and played a key role in its historic comeback win at Le Mans in 2023. The #51 crew started the 2026 season with a second-place finish in Imola, but was unlucky to be taken out of the race at Spa in the final hour.

Giovinazzi’s move to sportscars came after a largely disappointing stint in F1. The Italian spent three full seasons with the Sauber-run Alfa Romeo team, registering one top-five finish in that time.

Robert Kubica

#83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Yifei Ye, Robert Kubica, Philip Hanson

Photo by: Marc Fleury

Car: #83 AF Corse 499P
Former F1 teams: BMW, Renault, Williams, Alfa Romeo
Best F1 result: 1st

Robert Kubica not only won Le Mans for the first time in 2025, he was also arguably the fastest driver over the full season. At 41-years-old, he continues to impress with his performance in AF Corse’s satellite Ferrari, and will be one of the favourites for victory if the 499P can recover from a slow start to Le Mans week.

The Pole is also the only grand prix winner on the Le Mans grid, having claimed a memorable victory at the 2008 Canadian GP. His F1 career appeared to have been cut short by a rally crash in 2011, but he returned to the championship in 2019 with Williams, and made two further appearances in 2021 with Sauber. 

Paul Di Resta

Nick Cassidy, Paul Di Resta, Malthe Jakobsen, Mathias Beche

Photo by: Rainier Ehrhardt

Car: #93 Peugeot 9X8 
Former F1 team(s): Force India
Best F1 result: 4th

Paul di Resta has been a part of Peugeot’s 9X8 programme since its inception, and knows the car inside out. In just under four years, he has scored two podiums, including a second-place finish at Fuji last year. However, Peugeot is not expected to be in contention for a podium finish at Le Mans, barring major drama on Sunday.

Di Resta enjoyed a promising career in single-seaters and won a DTM title before stepping up to F1 in 2011. Driving for midfielders Force India, he enjoyed a decent run of results, but couldn’t secure a seat with a front-running team.

Stoffel Vandoorne

#93 Peugeot Totalenergies Peugeot 9X8 Stoffel Vandoorne

Photo by: Marc Fleury

Car: #93 Peugeot 9X8
Former F1 team(s): McLaren
Best F1 result: 7th

Stoffel Vandoorne is currently in his third season in Hypercar with Peugeot. He was initially set to join Genesis for the Hyundai marque’s entry into WEC, but the deal fell through at the last-minute, prompting him to return to Peugeot. The Belgian has one overall podium at Le Mans to his name, thanks to an impressive third-place finish on his debut with SMP Racing in 2019.

Vandoorne was touted as McLaren’s next big star when he made his F1 debut in 2017. However, he failed to make much of an impression, even as the team’s fortunes improved under Renault, and was dropped after just two seasons. 

Jack Doohan

#24 Nielsen Racing Oreca 07 Gibson: David Heinemeier Hansson, Edward Pearson, Jack Doohan

Photo by: Rainier Ehrhardt

Car: #24 Nielsen Racing Oreca 07
Former F1 team(s): Alpine
Best F1 result: 13th

Jack Doohan stepped into sportscar racing this year with Nielsen Racing, driving for the team in the LMP2 class of the European Le Mans Series. This opportunity also sees him making his Le Mans debut in the Pro-Am sub-category. 

Doohan’s F1 career lasted just seven races as he was unceremoniously benched by Alpine less than a third of the way into the 2025 season. The Australian’s seat was already under threat before he made his first start at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne.

Pietro Fittipaldi

#26 Vector Sport Oreca 07 Gibson: Ryan Cullen, Vladislav Lomko, Pietro Fittipaldi

Photo by: Rainier Ehrhardt

Car: #26 Vector Sport Oreca 07
Former F1 team(s): Haas
Best F1 result: 17th

Pietro Fittipaldi will be competing at Le Mans with a fourth different LMP2 team in as many years. The Brazilian finished seventh at La Sarthe last year, but will be aiming for a better result as he moves to Vector Sport. Fittipaldi’s CV includes an LMP2 win in the 2023 Monza WEC round with Jota.

Fittipaldi contested the final two races of the 2020 F1 season for Haas, substituing for an injured Romain Grosjean. He managed a best result of 17th, failing to do enough to secure a full-season drive.

Logan Sargeant

Sebastian Priaulx, Logan Sargeant, Proton Competition

Photo by: Jakob Ebrey / LAT Images via Getty Images

Car: #88 Proton Ford Mustang LMGT3
Former F1 team(s): Williams
Best F1 result: 10th

Logan Sargeant will be making his Le Mans debut as part of a full WEC programme with Proton in LMGT3. The American already finished inside the points at Imola in April, driving the Evo version of the Ford Mustang GT3. He will step up to the Hypercar category next year with Ford.

Sargeant put America back on the F1 grid in 2023 with Williams. He scored his first and only points in front of his home crowd at Austin, but was dropped by the team before he completed his second season. 

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