No2 Porsche Team Porsche 919 Hybrid 

Romain Dumas: “For sure we feel sorry for Toyota. It was a great race. But of course if you get the chance to win Le Mans, you won’t say no thank you. It’s impossible to realize right now what just happened. This year, the lap times were a bit slower due to the regulation changes.”

Neel Jani: “I feel heartbroken for the Toyota drivers. I think every racing driver knows how this feels like. I still have no words to describe winning the 24 hours of Le Mans. This is really surreal. Still we drove a very good race with very few mistakes and pushed the car to the maximum. This win is really, really special.”

Marc Lieb: “It was not at all an easy race with regards to traffic and slow zones. The last quadruple stint I did was really on the edge. Even the first three stints were quite difficult with overtaking in the traffic and taking risks. In the last one I then also had to save fuel, and especially the front tyres that began to lose performance. I gave everything I had – and now I think I have to digest what all has happened today.” 

No5 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota TS050 Hybrid

Anthony Davidson: “That was an unbelievable end to such a difficult race. You couldn’t have written the way it ended; no-one would ever have believed a movie if it ended like this. So to actually live through the experience is pretty hard to take, but it will make us stronger and we’ll be back.”

Sébastien Buemi: “It’s hard to find the words for what has happened today. We were in control of the race and were so close to the win that we all want. This is the biggest race of the year so it’s even tougher to accept. It is so disappointing for the whole team; we did the right preparation and we had the car to win. So we already look to next year when the target will be clear.”

Kazuki Nakajima: “First of all thank you to all the team members; we did everything right. The car was great to drive. It was tough to have Porsche #2 only 30 seconds behind me towards the end but we had the pace and we managed it very well. It was only two laps missing and it’s a pity we didn’t get the trophy; the team deserved to win. When I was doing my last lap to the chequered flag, all the marshals and fans were really kind to me and that was very emotional. I want to say thank you for that. Let’s come back stronger and grab that trophy.”

No6 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota TS050 Hybrid

Stéphane Sarrazin: “It was amazing; to lose the lead right at the end is just incredible. Even in your worst nightmares you don’t think about that. The team did a great job. Car #6 was fast and fighting for the lead for 20 hours. We showed we have a strong car with good pace and a strong team. But it was incredible to finish like that.”

Mike Conway: “I have mixed feelings. Second is okay but we are all gutted for car #5. They drove a great race and were controlling it. You could see how upset everyone was; I really feel for them. We were fighting up there all race at the front so it was a good race in terms of the performance of the car. It’s okay to get one car on the podium but we wanted more.” 

Kamui Kobayashi: “Unfortunately our second position was not what we wanted. We are here to win so I am not really happy. We showed the car has strong performance and our car set the fastest lap of the race. I feel really sorry for car #5, all the crew, drivers and engineers. They did a great race. They fought back through difficult moments and deserved to win.” 

No1 Porsche Team Porsche 919 Hybrid

Timo Bernhard: “Congratulations to our sister car and the Porsche Team, it is a well deserved win. They fought for the lead for 24 hours and were very close in the end. Of course I feel sorry for everybody at the Toyota Team. To lose a race this way is brutal. We were not lucky either and I also feel sorry for Mark, Brendon and our crew. The guys were relentless and did an excellent job to fix the 919 Hybrid and get it up and running again. We had quite a bit of misfortune this year but have to be able to handle that. Our car was really fast, we easily could go at the speed of the leaders and at least we have won more points for the manufacturers’ championship for Porsche. Next year we come back. I don’t give up and want to win here with Porsche.”

Brendon Hartley: “On the final stints in our car it was important to get the driving time in for all drivers to collect some points. Our Porsche was feeling very good. We are all a bit upset that we had problems earlier on. But everyone in the team showed fighting spirit and then we kept our fingers crossed for the sister car.” 

Mark Webber: “I am very proud of the team, proud of the mechanics who worked so hard. It’s an honour to drive for Porsche in Le Mans again. It wasn’t our day, we were unlucky with the water pump. That was the big problem for us, we lost a lot of time. But Timo’s and Brendon’s drives were awesome. In the end we all prayed for car 2 and of course I’m happy for our team mates and Porsche. But what has happened to Toyota today, is really hard to take and you have to feel for them.”