Roger Federer Waves French Flag To Kick Off 2025 Le Mans: WATCH
Last Updated:
Roger Federer waved the French flag to start the 93rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which features 62 cars and 186 drivers from 34 countries.
Class is timeless, and there is none who personifies the same rather than Roger Federer himself, who brought it all to Le Mans today.
The Swiss tennis legend waved the French flag to kick off the 93rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans on Saturday, where Porsche quickly took the lead from Cadillac.
Organisers have estimated the total weekend attendance at over 300,000 spectators.
Ferrari, which won the last two editions, can keep the trophy at their Maranello factory if they achieve a hat-trick.
Following a French air force flypast, retired 20-time Grand Slam winner Federer waved the flag to start the race, which runs through the night and into Sunday afternoon.
#LeMans24 #WEC pic.twitter.com/JZDY29wcGy
— TNT Sports (@tntsports) June 14, 2025
Cadillac, which had swept the front row in Thursday's qualifying, saw its advantage disappear as Porsche Penske's Julien Andlauer surged into the lead from third on the grid before the first chicane on the opening lap.
Held at the Sarthe circuit in north-west France, the race features 62 cars driven by 186 drivers from 34 countries. It is the fourth round of the World Endurance Championship, with 21 hypercars vying for overall victory.
This iconic endurance race has been the site of memorable victories for current grid drivers. Nico Hulkenberg won with Porsche in 2015, while Fernando Alonso secured back-to-back wins with Toyota in 2018 and 2019.
The most notable Formula 1 name in this year's Le Mans is Jenson Button, the 2009 world champion with Brawn GP. At 45, Button is racing in the 24-hour classic for the fourth time, still seeking his first win on the 13.6-kilometre circuit.
Other F1 drivers competing this year include Nico Hulkenberg and Mick Schumacher.
In an interesting twist, Moto GP legend Valentino Rossi is making his second appearance in this endurance race. Rossi, known for his illustrious career on two wheels, swapped rides with Lewis Hamilton in 2019 and tested for Ferrari in 2006.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India Today
an hour ago
- India Today
Italy set to appoint Gennaro Gattuso as manager, Gianluigi Buffon confirms
Italy are set to appoint former midfield stalwart Gennaro Gattuso as the national team's new manager, replacing Luciano Spalletti, who was dismissed following a dismal start to the World Cup qualifying campaign. The confirmation came from Gianluigi Buffon, head of delegation with the Italian football federation (FIGC), on Saturday."We have worked, we are now waiting for the final details," Buffon told state broadcaster RAI during an appearance at the Under-21 European Championship. "The president and the whole federation have had some busy days but I think that in the end we made the best choice."advertisementSpalletti's tenure, which lasted less than two years, ended with a 2-0 win over Moldova - his final match in charge - just one day after he effectively confirmed his departure. That came on the heels of a 3-0 defeat in Norway in Italy's opening World Cup qualifier, a result that sealed his fate. Gattuso, 47, earned 73 caps for Italy and was part of the 2006 World Cup-winning side. He most recently managed Hajduk Split in Croatia, parting ways with the club by mutual consent after guiding them to third place in the domestic Claudio Ranieri had initially been the FIGC's preferred candidate, the veteran coach turned down the offer, opting instead to focus on his role as senior advisor at AS managerial career began in 2013 at Swiss side Sion, where he served briefly as player-coach. He has since had spells at a string of clubs including AC Milan, Napoli, Valencia, and most recently a short stint at Olympique de Marseille. His only managerial silverware came at Napoli, lifting the Coppa Italia in 2021, Fiorentina announced Gattuso as their new manager, only to terminate the agreement 22 days later, reportedly due to disputes over transfer entrusted with reviving Italy's World Cup hopes after missing the last two tournaments, Gattuso inherits a side reeling from their loss in Oslo and facing mounting pressure to turn things around swiftly.
The Hindu
3 hours ago
- The Hindu
PSG inspired by Los Angeles as it sets out to build new stadium
Paris St Germain is drawing inspiration from the success of new state-of-the-art venues in Los Angeles as the Champions League title winner begins the process of building a new stadium for the team, CEO Victoriano Melero said. PSG has outgrown the 48,000-capacity Parc des Princes, and team officials will spend a year studying potential sites in Massy and Poissy with an eye toward offering a variety of entertainment options, Melero said. 'The next challenge is a new stadium,' Melero told Reuters in Los Angeles ahead of PSG's Club World Cup match on Sunday in Pasadena. 'For one year we're going to go into an analysis and make a choice for our future, and we're inspired by what is going on in the U.S. with sports facilities,' he said. 'One example here is SoFi Stadium. It's incredible and much more than a sports facility - it really is part of entertainment and shows. So that is what we really want to push to diversify our revenue.' SoFi Stadium, a technological marvel that opened in 2020, is home to the NFL's Rams and Chargers and has hosted concerts by artists like Taylor Swift and Beyonce. It will play a key role in next summer's World Cup and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The $5 billion stadium is located in Hollywood Park, a growing commercial and residential area. The 70,000-capacity indoor-outdoor stadium sits next to Intuit Dome, the high-tech NBA arena that opened last year. PSG is looking at Massy, south of Paris, and Poissy, west of the French capital, as potential sites for a new stadium. The team will play Parc des Princes for the foreseeable future while the new stadium is built. U.S. fans and investors have played a vital role in the stunning success of the club both on and off the field, said Adrien Frier, the French consul-general in Los Angeles. Also read | FIFA Club World Cup 2025 — Messi and Co. held to goalless draw by Al Ahly in CWC opener 'Paris St Germain is what you would call in the tech sector a unicorn, and it's a unicorn that has some American blood in it,' he said at a reception honoring the team in Beverly Hills, where the Champions League trophy was on display. PSG has an estimated five million fans in the U.S. and has benefited from its high-profile partnership with Nike's iconic Air Jordan brand. U.S.-based Arctos Partners holds 12.5% of the shares of the team, with majority owner Qatar Sports Investments owning the remaining 87.5% for a club that is valued at $4.4 billion. Melero said the team's ambitions are only growing. 'We wrote the story of the club with that cup,' he said, gesturing toward the gleaming trophy. 'And right now the next move is to write the story of football with this very young team.'
Mint
3 hours ago
- Mint
The Club World Cup is finally up and running -- and soccer may never be the same
MIAMI GARDENS (AP) — After more than a year of uncertainty and criticism, the Club World Cup kicked off in Miami on Saturday and soccer may never be the same. At least that's what FIFA president Gianni Infantino has been telling anyone who would listen. 'This tournament will be the start of something historic that will change our sport for the better,' he said this week as part of an exhausting schedule of public engagements to drum up interest in the month-long event staged across 11 cities in the United States. Soccer's newest tournament is what the sport has been waiting for, Infantino says, and on Saturday, despite considerable pushback and obstacles, he turned his personal passion project into a reality. The Swiss lawyer, who holds one of the most powerful positions in the world as head of soccer's governing body, was on hand at a largely full Hard Rock Stadium to watch Lionel Messi's Inter Miami draw 0-0 with Egyptian team Al Ahly in the opening game of his super-sized Club World Cup. The match may have been underwhelming, but the occasion — kicked off with a lavish opening ceremony featuring music, dance routines and fireworks — was a moment of immense pride for Infantino and conclusive proof of his influence over the most popular sport on the planet. Despite his assertions, it's not clear how much soccer really wanted another elite tournament. But this was his baby — so much so that his name is etched not once, but twice, onto a giant golden trophy crafted by Tiffany & Co. that will be lifted by the winner on July 13. It has gone ahead against the backdrop of legal challenges in Europe, threats of strike action from players and fears of injury and burnout for the biggest stars. There have been concerns about overreach by FIFA - which has traditionally focused on national team soccer — and the detrimental impact a new club competition would have on domestic leagues. But nothing was going to stand in the way of Infantino's plans to expand the Club World Cup from its previous guise as a seven-team mid-season mini tournament to a 32-team extravaganza that could one day rival the Champions League and Premier League as one of the most popular and wealthiest competitions in the world. Time will tell if it lives up to Infantino's billing, but he has navigated the biggest hurdle of all by getting this inaugural edition off the ground. It is locked into the calendar — every four years — and teams such as Champions League winner Paris Saint-Germain have already qualified for the next edition in 2029. "Maybe not now in its first edition, but it will become an incredibly important competition to win,' PSG coach Luis Enrique said. He may have a point. Peculiarly, and despite the global nature of soccer, the club game has largely been restricted to continental competition, aside from the previous guise of the Club World Cup, which was often looked on as little more than a exhibition. Still, it remains unclear how much of an appetite there is for another soccer tournament in a calendar that has reached saturation point. So a crowd of more than 60,000 at the Hard Rock Stadium likely came as a relief to FIFA, though it is not known how many of those in attendance paid anything like the $349 being quoted for seats in December. FIFA has not offered definitive numbers on the amount of tickets sold for the tournament as a whole and prices were slashed as the opening game approached. But there were only pockets of empty seats in the stands, with many red-shirted fans of Al Ahly in attendance. 'We've been looking forward to it for a long time,' said Peter Sadek a fan originally from Egypt and now living in Orlando. 'At least 50 more just from our area (are coming). It's been bubbling up for a long time and you can see how many are here.' Other Al Ahly fans had traveled directly from Egypt, with red shirts outnumbering the pink of Miami in parts of the stadium. If only Messi could have crowned Infantino's big night with a moment of magic. His stunning curling effort from long range, deep into extra time would have been the perfect finish. Instead, Al Ahly goalkeeper Mohamed Elshenawy tipped the ball onto the crossbar to deny the Argentine great and Infantino that prize moment. Not even Infantino can have everything, it seems.
