40 of the most talented racecar drivers in the entire world are ready to compete in a gauntlet of 20 races designed to match 4 different disciplines, and we begin in Daytona for the running of the Rolex 24. 10 teams, 10 cars, 40 drivers. This will be a true marvel to watch the best of the best clash for worldwide superiority.
Race Regulations
Road Course Car Configuration
2 Sets of Tires - Medium, Hard
24 Hours +1 Lap
Refueling Required
Expected 20-25 Pit Stops
Engines Tuned to 1000 HP
Qualifying Results & Starting Driver
1 - Mercedes-AMG Performance - Takuma Sato
2 - Arrow McLaren - Lando Norris
3 - BMW - Dries Vanthoor
4 - Andretti Global - Sébastien Bourdais
5 - Honda Racing Corporation - Alex Palou
6 - Hendrick Motorsports - Carlos Sainz
7 - Red Bull Racing - Max Verstappen
8 - Toyota Gazoo Racing - Kamui Kobayashi
9 - Ferrari AF Corse - Antonio Giovinazzi
10 - Porsche Penske - Matt Campbell
24:00
Rolling start to begin this one and the Rolex 24 is green! Takuma Sato in the Mercedes launches off extremely well in the AMG-ONE and leads into turn 1 as they head towards the infield course. Sato leads Lando Norris, Dries Vanthoor, and Alex Palou through the first horseshoe corner, and there's trouble as Max Verstappen has taken out Carlos Sainz! The Hendrick Chevrolet has some damage as does the Red Bull. Sébastien Bourdais dives down the inside of Dries Vanthoor down the backstretch chicane and takes 3rd as Sato keeps pulling away.
23:52
Mercedes has already legged out a 3 second gap over McLaren, with Andretti and BMW and Honda all bunched together battling for 2nd. The Mercedes Project One racecar has tremendous pace and grip with its design.
23:50
Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz are in the pits as the damage is getting worse with the turbulent air. This is gonna affect both of their races significantly as the Red Bull gets repairs to the right front and the Hendrick gets left rear repairs. Both teams are in a big hole already.
23:40
Ferrari and Toyota are going at it for 6th place, Antonio Giovinazzi dives past Kamui Kobayashi into turn 1 and Giovinazzi puts Ferrari up a place after gaining a couple from the opening lap incident.
23:27
Here comes the BMW to the inside of the McLaren down the backstretch chicane, and BMW moves ahead to take the 2nd spot away, hoping to somehow, someway match the pace of the leader.
23:10
HRC's Alex Palou gets down the inside into the second horseshoe corner on Andretti's Bourdais! Palou takes 4th place away with that brilliant move.
23:02
Here comes the Mercedes into the pits. No driver swap this time around but it will be a set of medium tires and fuel for that ONE. BMW takes over the lead for now.
22:57
Pit stops for the BMW and the McLaren cars, with HRC and Andretti proceeding to take the top spots. BMW takes mediums and McLaren takes another set of hards.
22:50
HRC pits for hard tires and fuel, Andretti pits for medium tires and fuel, and eventually Ferrari, Toyota, and Porsche all come in as well for their tires and fuel after pushing their window to the maximum. Mercedes is back to the lead.
22:30
Over the last dozen laps, BMW has been running the Mercedes down with being on the softer compound of tires, the gap is down to 3 seconds after being 10 before pit stops.
22:15
Here comes BMW for the race lead! Dries Vanthoor makes his move on Takuma Sato and takes over the top spot on the quicker tires.
22:03
For 3rd, McLaren is about to lose another spot as Alex Palou in his Honda takes over, Palou has been on the move and faster than everyone so far in this race, but he can't go on forever!
21:46
BMW stretched out a gap of 12 seconds with the better tires and now Vanthoor pits for a set of hard tires to get a long stint in. Sato in his Mercedes remains out front.
21:30
Battle between Antonio Giovinazzi and Sébastien Bourdais for 5th, Giovinazzi moves his Ferrari into the top 5 ahead of the Andretti.
21:15
Mercedes, Honda, McLaren, Ferrari, and Andretti all make pit stops to take themselves off the hard tire and get back on mediums. BMW has cycled back to the lead.
21:07
Toyota and Porsche make pit stops for hards to stretch our their next stints to get to a driver change on their next stops.
20:40
BMW has become a bit of a sitting duck with all of their rivals on mediums and storming up behind them, but Vanthoor is calm and collected and there's still a long long way to go.
20:11
Around the outside of the backstretch chicane goes Takuma Sato for the lead, and Mercedes is back out in front at Daytona.
19:47
Pit stops, and Mercedes comes in with Honda and McLaren. Hard tires for all of them to get to around the 18 hour mark and make a driver change.
19:40
Ferrari, Toyota, and Porsche are in for another set of hard tires to get to the driver change window. BMW continues to stay out and lead.
19:16
BMW is in, Dries Vanthoor wants medium tires to finish out his stint for this race and he's gonna get them, cycling back out 12 seconds behind Takuma Sato and 5 seconds behind Alex Palou.
18:40
For 2nd, BMW moves forward once again, probably the most active car of this day as Vanthoor makes yet another and looks to track down Sato.
18:02
Pit stops and everyone's in! The entire field of cars still in the running are in to make driver changes, while everyone changes to hard tires to begin these night stints.
Mercedes -> Chris Buescher
BMW -> Felix Rosenqvist
Honda -> Yuki Tsunoda
McLaren -> James Cottingham
Ferrari -> Todd Gilliland
Andretti -> Carson Hocevar
Toyota -> Christopher Bell
Porsche -> Austin Cindric
Hendrick -> Ricardo Feller
Red Bull -> Rinus Veekay
17:33
Carson Hocevar in trouble, he goes around on the backstretch chicane and slides through tire stacks meant to mark track limits. Hocevar costs Andretti multiple positions to Toyota and Porsche.
16:58
Big lockup for Todd Gilliland into turn 1, he goes off into the runoff area, spins himself around, and gets back going but drops behind Christopher Bell and Austin Cindric.
16:32
As the night continues on, the Mercedes has gotten stronger and stronger piloted by Chris Buescher, pulling out a 20 second gap over the BMW of Felix Rosenqvist and the Honda of Yuki Tsunoda.
16:16
Austin Cindric has brought Porsche to life as he gets by Christopher Bell's Toyota Supra into turn 1 and gets into the top 5 for the first time in this race.
16:03
Pit stops, here's the BMW and Honda cars in for another set of hard tires and a full tank of fuel, hoping to get another long run.
16:00
Porsche, Toyota, Ferrari, and Andretti are in, it's also hard tires for these teams and fuel to get to the 14 hour mark.
15:54
Mercedes is in, and they're gonna go against what everyone else did and fit on the medium tires! Mercedes wants to stretch as big of a gap as possible under the lights. McLaren is also in to mimic the strategy.
15:24
McLaren has finally found a sign of life after being isolated in 4th for hours, going past the Honda of Yuki Tsunoda for 3rd.
15:00
9 hours into this race, still a long long way to go as we aren't even close to halfway yet. This goes to show how much of a marathon the Rolex is.
14:33
Here comes the Mercedes and McLaren back into the pits after their medium tire stint. Tires and fuel for Chris Buescher and James Cottingham as they're once again on hards to get to their driver change.
14:07
Everyone else comes into the pits, after their stints on the hard tires as the clock turns to midnight and a new day begins.
13:38
This race has been a masterclass for the Mercedes crew, and James Cottingham in the McLaren is gonna take 2nd from Felix Rosenqvist in the BMW.
13:07
Red Bull is experiencing MGU-K issues and have been forced to retire their car, dwindling the field down to 9 with 8 on the lead lap.
12:04
It's time for more driver changes in the pits, everyone's in at the same time for hard tires and fuel as we set to embark on the 2nd half of this race.
Mercedes -> Mick Schumacher
McLaren -> Pato O'Ward
BMW -> Tyler Reddick
Honda -> Stoffel Vandoorne
Porsche -> Pierre Gasly
Toyota -> Oliver Bearman
Ferrari -> Robert Shwartzman
Andretti -> Kyle Kirkwood
Hendrick -> William Byron
11:41
Stoffel Vandoorne in the Honda drives right past the BMW of Tyler Reddick, Vandoorne is really good at this style of racing as the 3 way battle for P2 is on.
11:27
Oliver Bearman is making headway as he goes past Pierre Gasly to bring Toyota into the top 5! Bearman is so young yet so talented, no surprise to see him being a difference maker in the race for Toyota.
11:03
Mercedes has dominated the middle portion of this race, now leading by over 40 seconds ahead of that McLaren, Honda, and BMW battle.
10:48
Kyle Kirkwood is recovering Andretti's hole from the last driver and has gone ahead of Robert Shwartzman in the Ferrari.
10:02
Pit stops, everyone comes in over the course of this lap for tires and fuel, all of the leaders are on hards and are looking to finish this race on 4 more pit stops.
9:37
Mick Schumacher has set the fastest lap of this race and is nearly a second a lap faster than everyone else, the pace of that Mercedes ONE is super fast.
9:12
Here's Vandoorne, down the inside of Pato O'Ward reing the oval portion of the course and he takes 2nd place for Honda! HRC has themselves a great package.
8:30
, Kyle Kirkwood gets into Pierre Gasly and spins him around! Gasly slides into the gravel and is beached for moments before crawling out from the trap.
8:01
Pit stops are back underway, Mercedes has no pressure with such a huge gap behind as Mick Schumacher pits for hard tires and comes back out on the track still in the lead as the others pit for hards as well.
7:44
Tyler Reddick locks up and hits Pato O'Ward in the rear end into the backstretch chicane! O'Ward has major rear end damage and he spins the right side of the car into the wall. The great run for Arrow McLaren is all over with all of that damage.
7:43
Arrow McLaren desperately attempts to fix the damage on that racecar but it's too much to competitively carry on and they're forced to retire from this race.
6:49
Robert Shwartzman takes 5th back from Kyle Kirkwood as the Ferrari gets past the slightly wounded Andretti Ford.
6:17
Trouble, the Porsche Penske of Pierre Gasly has stopped just shy of the finish line with a total power unit failure, this is gonna be a full safety car! Everyone's in for driver changes and sets of medium tires!
Mercedes -> George Russell
Honda -> Connor Zilisch
BMW -> Nico Hulkenberg
Toyota -> David Malukas
Ferrari -> Lewis Hamilton
Andretti -> Isack Hadjar
Hendrick -> Alexander Rossi
6:06
The Porsche Penske has been successfully removed from the racetrack and the safety car is pulling into the pits, here we are for the final stint of this race and George Russell leads us back green! Great jump for Russell but he's locking up into turn 1 and goes wide! Connor Zilisch takes the lead for Honda as Russell res the track and hits the side of Nico Hulkenberg, now Hulkenberg spins across the grass! Zilisch leads David Malukas, Russell, Lewis Hamilton, Isack Hadjar, Alexander Rossi, and the wounded Hulkenberg!
5:50
George Russell gets alongside David Malukas heading towards the 2nd horseshoe corner, but Malukas has the inside and he forces Russell way wide but goes wide himself, here comes Lewis Hamilton and Isack Hadjar going past both of them! Russell is angry and he shunts Malukas out of the way heading back onto the oval and finally clears the Toyota, losing a ton in the process.
5:37
Isack Hadjar has a slipstream down the backstretch on Lewis Hamilton, he pulls out of line to have a go at him and he lunges into the chicane, oh what a move as Hadjar takes 2nd! George Russell's antics have blown this race wide open!
5:20
Here comes Hadjar, going for the lead! Connor Zilisch tries to defend, it's a couple young stars going at it as Hadjar takes the top spot from Zilisc into turn 1!
5:16
George Russell is recovering, he easily takes 3rd from Lewis Hamilton with that rocketship of a Mercedes ONE, Russell still has a long way to go to reclaim a lead that Mercedes has had the vast majority of this race.
4:34
Pit stops, everyone's going on Mediums here on out! Isack Hadjar keeps the lead but the gap between himself and Connor Zilisch and George Russell has closed!
4:07
Connor Zilisch wants the lead back from Isack Hadjar, here he goes for the top spot! Side-by-side into turn 1 and Zilisch takes it back away!
3:28
Nico Hulkenberg has recovered up to 5th, getting past David Malukas in his Toyota as the BMW is running on anger and German power.
3:01
More stops, this is the 2nd to last time we'll see these cars in the pits as it's another order for medium tires to get as much pace as possible as we begin to creep towards the afternoon stage of this race.
2:52
George Russell for 2nd, he sends it into turn 1, locks up and runs into the side of Isack Hadjar but makes the overtake work, now Lewis Hamilton sneaks into 3rd ahead of the Andretti!
2:40
Nico Hulkenberg takes 4th, he gets past the young Hadjar for the position as Hulkenberg has done a great job at salvaging this race, still staying in the mix.
2:13
Nico Hulkenberg on the move again, 3rd place for the BMW ahead of the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton. A clash between Ferrari and BMW ends in BMW prevailing.
1:33
For the final time today, we have pit stops! Medium tires and fuel as Connor Zilisch comes out ahead of George Russell and Nico Hulkenberg as the top 3, who have had the best cars all race long.
1:17
George Russell has a look on the outside of Connor Zilisch into turn 1, trying to fake the youngster out but Zilisch doesn't fall for it and stays ahead through the infield portion.
0:58
Russell backed off for a bit to cool down his tires and charge his battery, now he's on full attack again down the backstretch! Side-by-side for the lead, Russell locks up but it doesn't matter and he clears the Honda of Zilisch! Mercedes is back up front at Daytona!
0:35
Nico Hulkenberg goes for a move on Zilisch for 2nd, and he's gonna use his experience to charge right past and put BMW back in the mix for the win!
0:17
Oh trouble, David Malukas has punctured a tire and crashes hard in the trioval! Big damage to that Toyota and the safety car is out! George Russell, Nico Hulkenberg, Connor Zilisch, and Isack Hadjar pit while Lewis Hamilton and Alexander Rossi stay out!
0:06
The safety car is coming in and this race is in the hands of Ferrari with Lewis Hamilton and Hendrick with Alexander Rossi, green flag with 6 minutes to go! Rossi jumps on Hamilton right away but can't make the , rather getting ed himself by George Russell and Nico Hulkenberg! Lewis Hamilton is gonna have to fight for his life on old tires to keep the Mercedes and BMW behind!
0:03
George Russell pulls out to have a run at Lewis Hamilton for the lead with 3 minutes left, and it's no contest as Russell takes the lead away from his former F1 teammate!
0:02
Nico Hulkenberg has to strike now if he wants a chance, he lunges into the backstretch chicane and forces himself past Lewis Hamilton and moves his BMW into 2nd!
0:00
The clock has expired as George Russell crosses the line to begin the final lap of the Rolex 24, tailed by Nico Hulkenberg! Big lockup for Russell into turn 1, that's gonna allow Hulkenberg to pull alongside him heading to the horseshoe! Side-by-side and they both lock up into the corner, Russell has the inside so he stays ahead, but they're nose to tail as they navigate the infield for the final time! Back onto the oval, it's a long draft to the chicane, Hulkenberg is closing! This is the last overtake opportunity under braking, but Hulkenberg can't get the line he wants to make the , he's hoping to make a drag race to the line! Through the banked turn 4, Russell is weaving back and forth, and George Russell wins the Rolex 24 for Mercedes!
Rolex 24 Results
1 - Mercedes-AMG Performance (24:00)
2 - BMW (+0.303)
3 - Ferrari AF Corse (+1.714)
4 - Honda Racing Corporation (+2.881)
5 - Andretti Global (+4.513)
6 - Hendrick Motorsports (+6.932)
7 - Toyota Gazoo Racing (Crash)
8 - Porsche Penske (Retired)
9 - Arrow McLaren (Crash)
10 - Red Bull Racing (Retired)
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