94th Le Mans 24 Hours can add a grand chapter to a number of racing dynasties

As with any great motor race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is a continuous story of legacies. And a good number of second-generation drivers who have either raced in Formula 1, or have parents or grandparents who did, are ready to make their own mark and win at Le Mans this year.

Leading the way is Kevin Magnussen of BMW M Team WRT, who will start on the pole position today in the No. 15 BMW M Hybrid V8 (pictured above). Magnussen made 185 Formula 1 Grand Prix starts from 2014 to 2023, following in the footsteps of his father Jan – who also raced in F1, but is best known for his four GT class wins at Le Mans.

Jan and Kevin even raced together in this race, in 2021. It’s for that reason why the race is special to Kevin.

“I think a big part of why this race holds such a special place for me is also that I have those childhood memories,” Magnussen said on the eve of his third Le Mans appearance. “It was a big event always as a child growing up, either being in person or watching the whole race from back home. For our family, it’s just a big event, and a special feeling coming here.

“It’s one that I dream about winning, and hope that I can win one day.”

With Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA, Delétraz aims to add an overall Le Mans win to go with his LMP2 trophy from last year. James Moy Photography/Getty Images

He’s not the only Hypercar driver with a family history in F1, whose car starts on the front row. The No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R features Swiss driver Louis Delétraz, who won the LMP2 Pro/Am class last year.

Delétraz’s father Jean-Denis raced in F1 three times in the mid-1990s as a paying driver, but the misfortunes of his brief F1 tenure are thankfully counterweighted by his back-to-back Le Mans class victories in 2001-'02, the hallmark of a more distinguished sports car racing career.

And though he doesn’t share the same surname as his uncle Luis Pérez-Sala, who raced for two seasons in F1 in the late ‘80s, Daniel Juncadella is nonetheless a second-generation driver with F1 heritage, and he will start sixth in the No. 19 Genesis Magma Racing GMR-001 – his third time at Le Mans and first time driving in the Hypercar class.

With Vector Sport in LMP2, Pietro Fittipaldi can add the third part of racing's Triple Crown to his family's honor roll. James Moy Photography/Getty Images

When it comes to racing dynasties, the Fittipaldi family from Brazil is one of the most well-known in large part to the success of patriarch Emerson Fittipaldi, a Formula 1 world champion and Indianapolis 500 winner. But the family has yet to win at Le Mans. Emerson’s grandson Pietro could change that as he can add an LMP2 class victory to the family lineage this year, driving for the British-based Vector Sport team.

Asked what it would mean for him to win the race, Fittipaldi said, “It would be amazing. You put your name in the history books, so just to be able to do that… to race it is one thing, but then to be able to win in your class, you’re in the history books for life, forever.”

Enzo Trulli makes his Le Mans debut in LMP2 this year in Algarve Pro Racing’s No. 25 LMP2 Pro/Am entry; the son of 2004 Monaco Grand Prix winner and 15-year F1 veteran Jarno Trulli has spent a significant amount of time racing across Asia. Trulli is one of a number of Porsche-affiliated drivers racing LMP2s, after he was chosen as a Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific Selected Driver for 2026.

And in LMGT3, two sons of drivers who once laid claim to the title of “Formula 1 iron man” are on the grid together.

Earlier this week RACER profiled Eduardo Barrichello (son of Rubens), who’ll make his second Le Mans start in the No. 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage LMGT3.

That No. 23 Aston Martin will start eighth in class alongside the No. 74 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo, which includes debutant Lorenzo Patrese among its trio of rookies. Patrese’s father Riccardo previously held the record for the most F1 starts before being surpassed by Rubens Barrichello; he also made three starts at Le Mans, bookending his F1 career.

And a couple of rows back, Giuliano Alesi will make his first Le Mans start in the No. 62 Team Qatar by Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG LMGT3. Like Patrese, Giuliano’s father, Jean Alesi, had a distinguished and memorable F1 career, and raced at Le Mans before. The second-generation Alesi was greeted warmly by his home fans in France, though these days he spends much of his time racing in Japan.

“It’s going to be important for us – and of course, my father is going to be very happy to see us here,” said Alesi. “So I’m excited to get started!”