Le Mans 24 Hours Live Commentary and Updates

The trophies are handed out by Grand Marshal and three-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Kazuki Nakajima, and the podium finishers get busy with the fizzy! That was one heck of a Le Mans 24 Hours.

It is time for the podium presentation on a new and improved Le Mans rostrum, which is even closer to the fans on the main straight. Out come the Hypercar top three for, of course, the Italian national anthem!

Ferrari in 2024: Winners of the Monaco GP and winners of the Le Mans 24 Hours. The Italian giant just needs to sort out an Indy 500 entry next to go for the Triple Crown in a single year! That last one might be trickier, but an engine supplier set-up has been talked about before.

The emotions are pouring out now, as the trio of Ferrari drivers congratulate each other in parc ferme. Then come along the LMP2 winners, as Jarvis gets a big cuddle from team-mates Garg and Siegel as he parks up the #22 United Autosports ORECA.

Nielsen completes the cooldown lap to pick up team-mates Fuoco and Molina, who perch on each of the sidepod covers, to go down the main straight to continue the celebrations in front of the fans before heading into the pitlane.

The LMGT3 winners #91 Manthey Porsche will be joined on the class podium by #31 WRT BMW in second and the #88 Proton Ford in third. The sister #44 Proton Ford takes fourth and the #85 Iron Dames Lamborghini rounds out the top five.

The LMP2 Pro/Am class podium is rounded out by #14 AO by TF (sixth in class) and #33 DKR Engineering (seventh in class).

Defending LMP2 Le Mans winners #34 Inter Europol just miss out in second in class, 18.6s off winners United Autosports. The #28 IDEC Sport crew completes the class podium, ahead of the #183 AF Corse - that bags the Pro/Am victory - and #10 Vector Sport in fifth in class.

The #51 Ferrari completes the podium, as Pier Guidi keeps clear of Vanthoor in the #6 Porsche by 1.167s at the finish. The #8 Toyota takes fifth ahead of the #5 Porsche in sixth and the #2 Cadillac in seventh. The #12 Jota Porsche, #38 Jota Porsche and #63 Lamborghini complete the overall top 10.

Lopez brings home the #7 Toyota as runner-up, 14.221s behind, proving the gap was just too great to bridge in the final stint.

Nielsen crosses the line with 2% of energy left! He's running on fumes to the finish but it is victory for Ferrari and a successful defence of its Le Mans crown - this time with the other car.

There has been a position change on this last lap! Understandably missed by the TV director but Varrone did close up to Pilet to put the #183 AF Corse car fourth ahead of the #10 Vector machine.

Nielsen gets to the end of the Mulsanne straight with Lopez closing him down, there's about 15s splitting them, and he has 4% of energy left.

This is so tense. Nielsen is on the edge of useable energy, down to 9% as he starts his final lap and the gap is 19s to Lopez.

Having been so close for much of the race, the top six in LMP2 has strung out in these closing stages. Varrone is 2.7s behind van Uitert but a fight for third looks unlikely at this point.

The #50 Ferrari has 15% energy left with five minutes to go. It leads by 22s. That should be enough.

There are regular TV cutaways to the United Autosports garage. Jarvis enjoys the smallest advantage of the three class leaders as we enter the final five minutes, so it's no surprise to see the apprehension in the garage.

Nielsen went quicker than Lopez on that last lap, as the gap floats around the 27s mark, and by our count there will be three more laps to complete. The victory for the #50 Ferrari is in touching distance.

Lopez appears to be pushing on, as he runs deep through the second chicane on the Mulsanne straight, but he cannot get the gap down fast enough. The #50 leads by 27s from the #7 with 10 minutes to go.

Late scare there for Jarvis in the leading LMP2 United Autosports entry as he went straight on at the chicane but no harm is done and he still enjoys a 17-second lead.

Pier Guidi is resisting Vanthoor in the fight for third, with the gap back up to 2.5s, so it might not be three different manufacturers on the overall podium.

Nielsen sounds confident over team radio after being told he can afford to lose 5s per lap to Lopez and he'll be comfortable. The Dane doesn't want to ease of, for fear of mistakes in these wet conditions, but as long as he hits his fuel mark the win for the #50 Ferrari is his for the taking.

We earlier wondered if Jakobsen would be a retirement - however, after half an hour in the pits, the #47 Cool car has re-entered the fray. But it's down to 12th in class and only ahead of the #23 United Autosports entry that has faced a catalogue of problems during the race.

Toyota tells Lopez to play it safe and ensure it bags second instead of risking it all for victory. Boo! This is Le Mans!

Serra caused that recent slow zone but his GR Racing Ferrari did eventually get going again after stopping at the Esses, although it is down in 12th place in LMGT3.

Vanthoor is reeling in Pier Guidi for third place, the polesitting #6 Porsche is 1.7s off the podium now.

The lead #50 Ferrari has 43% of its virtual energy tank left with 20 minutes of racing left. It is going to be so tight even with a gap of 32s over the chasing #7 Toyota.

While Jarvis' LMP2 lead has shrunk, Lietz's in LMGT3 is back at 42 seconds as we approach the final 20 minutes of this contest. But there is still plenty of time for a twist in the tale.

The #50 Ferrari is 36s in the lead but lost 5s on the last lap to the #7 Toyota.  Further back the #6 Porsche is closing in on the #51 Ferrari in the fight for the final podium place and the gap is down to 2s.

Jakobsen in the #37 Cool car had been one of LMP2's stars in the early stages but that crew's race has unravelled and it may not even be a classified finisher as its ORECA remains in the garage.