The centenary edition attracted one of the most competitive Hypercar fields in the race's history, with Ferrari, Toyota, Porsche, Cadillac, Peugeot, Glickenhaus and Vanwall all represented in the top class. Before the race, Toyota's Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa led the WEC Hypercar Drivers' Championship by five points from teammates Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López. Ferrari AF Corse entered two Ferrari 499Ps: the No. 50 car shared by Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen, and the No. 51 driven by Calado, Giovinazzi and Pier Guidi.
Significant regulatory changes accompanied the centenary race. The LMGTE Pro class was eliminated, leaving LMGTE Am as the sole GT category. A revised safety car procedure was implemented to reduce the field-bunching impact of neutralisations. Tyre warmers, normally banned for environmental reasons, were reinstated for all classes at Le Mans following driver safety concerns expressed at the preceding 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, where multiple cars had crashed on cold tyres in changing conditions.
The race's Garage 56 slot, reserved for experimental or innovative vehicles, was filled by a modified Next Gen Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 fielded by Hendrick Motorsports to mark NASCAR's 75th anniversary and the 75th anniversary of its appearance at Le Mans in 1976. The car was driven by seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, 2009 Formula One World Champion Jenson Button, and Mike Rockenfeller, co-winner of the 2010 Le Mans race. Former crew chief Chad Knaus served as project manager and the car carried the No. 24 as a tribute to Jeff Gordon.
Antonio Fuoco claimed pole position with a Hypercar class lap of 3:22.982 during the Hyperpole session, establishing a new Hypercar class record at the circuit and ending Toyota's streak of six consecutive Le Mans poles dating back to 2017. It was also Ferrari's first Le Mans pole since 1973. Pier Guidi qualified second in the sister No. 51 Ferrari, with the two Toyota GR010 Hybrids and two Porsche 963s filling the remaining Hyperpole positions alongside the two Cadillac V-Series.R entries. LeBron James waved the French tricolor to start the race at 16:00 CEST on 10 June.
The race was defined by variable weather conditions, multiple safety car periods and the attrition of several leading contenders. Heavy rain in the third and seventh hours triggered safety car interventions and multiple incidents, including crashes from Luís Felipe Molina's Porsche teammate Yifei Ye who lost his No. 38 Jota Porsche at the Porsche Curves, and several retirements across all classes. Toyota's No. 7 GR010 was eliminated in the ninth hour in a multi-car incident at Tertre Rouge corner that also involved a Peugeot and an Alpine, removing a major title contender from the race.
Ferrari led a sustained battle with the surviving No. 8 Toyota of Buemi, Hartley and Hirakawa through the final hours. Pier Guidi's No. 51 Ferrari held the lead through a difficult closing phase in which a cockpit communications failure required a power cycle during a pit stop, a system reset at the final pit stop, and a near-collision avoidance manoeuvre. The Ferrari maintained its lead over the final 55 laps and crossed the line 1 minute 21.793 seconds ahead of the No. 8 Toyota, with the No. 2 Cadillac of Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn and Richard Westbrook finishing a lap behind in third.
In LMP2, Inter Europol Competition's Albert Costa, Fabio Scherer and Jakub Śmiechowski led the final 112 laps to take class victory. Scherer drove with an incomplete fracture of his mid-left foot after an incident in the pit lane but refused to withdraw, saying winning Le Mans was worth the pain. Team WRT's Rui Andrade, Louis Delétraz and Robert Kubica finished second, 21.015 seconds behind.
The final LMGTE Am and GTE race at Le Mans ended with a Chevrolet Corvette C8.R victory for Nicky Catsburg, Ben Keating and Nicolás Varrone, who recovered from two laps down after a second-hour pit stop to replace a failed damper. The Corvette led the ORT by TF Aston Martin of Ahmad Al Harthy, Michael Dinan and Charlie Eastwood by one lap at the finish.
Ferrari's victory was the manufacturer's tenth overall at Le Mans and its first since 1965. For Calado, Giovinazzi and Pier Guidi it was each driver's maiden overall Le Mans win. Ferrari chairman John Elkann called it "an unforgettable day." The result moved Calado, Giovinazzi and Pier Guidi from fifth to second in the Hypercar Drivers' Championship, 25 points behind leaders Buemi, Hartley and Hirakawa with three rounds remaining. Toyota retained the lead in the Hypercar World Endurance Championship for constructors. Of the 62 starters, only 40 were classified at the finish, the lowest completion rate since 2015.