Motorsports fans enjoyed a historic 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2025. Of note, a Ferrari won the endurance race. But for just the second time in history, it was a Ferrari entered by a “privateer” team. And no, that doesn’t mean it was driven by pirates. It means it was not directly supported by the Ferrari corporation.
Vehicle manufacturing corporations compete in many motorsports. These sports are excellent ways to demonstrate their vehicles or just technologies developed for their vehicles. The manufacturers often foot part of the bill, justifying it as an advertising expense. But in addition, many bring on additional sponsors to help with the cost.
The word “privateer” has varied slightly throughout the years, and in different motorsports. But the long and short of it is that a privateer team is not directly supported by any vehicle manufacturer. They often rely solely on deals with team sponsors. But that’s not to say manufacturers don’t help them out.
In the early days of motorsports, the cost for many events was lower. One hundred years ago, many teams were privateers. And some were just based around a single wealthy individual who owned a very fast car and footed the bill to run it in some races.
Ferrari’s first privateer win at Le Mans
The Ferrari company didn’t bother entering a car in the early 24 Hours of Le Mans races. But in 1949, Peter Mitchel-Thomson, who was also known by his title Lord Selsdon, assembled a privateer team to take on the endurance race. The Brit’s co-driver was an American named Luigi Chinetti. They raced a Ferrari 166 MM and completed 235 laps during the long race–for the win.
The 1949 victory was the first win by a Ferrari. It was also the first win with a V12. It was instrumental in convincing Enzo Ferrari to assemble a factory team to take on the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Ferraris 2025 privateer win
A privateer team won Le Mans in a Ferrari again, in 2025. This time, the privateer team was AF Corse. It is a private Italian team, founded in 1995, that specializes in endurance racing. But what’s so different about this privateer win, is that they had to beat out both cars entered by the official Ferrari race team to claim the victory.
AF Corse didn’t race any old production car. They entered a Ferrari 499P Hype rcar. Its drivers were Robert Kubica, Ye Yifei, and Philip Hanson. Kubica was once a Ferrari race driver in Formula 1, before moving over to the privateer side. The last time a privateer team won the 24 Hours of Le Mans was Champion Audi’s victory in 2005. You can see the 24 Hours of Le Mans race highlights in the video embedded below:
