Mercedes will return to the Le Mans 24 Hours for the first time since 1999 as part of a World Endurance Championship campaign with the Iron Lynx team.
The German manufacturer will enter the WEC for the first time in the LMGT3 class with the successful Mercedes-AMG GT3, a winner of the 24-hour classics at Spa and Nurburgring.
That will give Mercedes a spot on the Le Mans grid, 26 years after its last entry with the CLR LM-GTP racer.
That was only Mercedes’s third assault on the French enduro since its 1989 victory with the factory Sauber team and ended on Saturday evening when Peter Dumbreck crashed out in the third aerial accident for the team over the Le Mans meeting.
Iron Lynx is forging a partnership with Mercedes after representing Lamborghini in LMGT3 in 2024, the first season of the new class, as well as in Hypercar with the Italian manufacturer’s SC63 LMDh prototype.
Mercedes is set to become the 10th manufacturer in class and will have two Iron Lynx-run cars in the field, in line with series rules.
Iron Lynx has announced Matteo Cressoni, who switches over from Lamborghini's factory roster, and Claudio Schiavoni, a partner in the team, as the first drivers of the two Mercs.
Head of Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Christoph Sagemuller said on Wednesady’s announcement: “It's no secret that we've been very keen for some time to bring the Three-pointed Star back to Le Mans.
“The 2025 season with the FIA WEC entry is the right moment – we are returning to La Sarthe after 26 years!
“The first FIA WEC season with LMGT3 cars has already been extremely interesting and we want to bring even more excitement to the field in future.”
He added the “experienced Iron Lynx team is the right pairing” for its WEC entry.
Iron Lynx team principal and CEO Andrea Piccini said: "We are extremely proud to welcome Mercedes-AMG as a partner. In addition to being an amazing brand, they are highly motivated, determined, and hungry for success.”
Stephen Wendl, head of customer racing at Mercedes-AMG, thanked the FIA and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest for their cooperation in allowing Mercedes into LMGT3 at the second time of asking.
The brand tried to gain an entry for the inaugural year of LMGT3. but lost out when the FIA and the ACO allowed in only nine manufacturers.
An expansion of the WEC grid from this year’s 37 to cars to potentially as many as 40 and fewer than expected entries in Hypercar has made space for Mercedes.
The significance of the announcement, which has come ahead of the full reveal of the 2025 WEC grid after entries closed on 18 November, on Iron Lynx’s relationship with Lamborghini is not entirely clear.
Lamborghini’s LMDh programme is under review, with marque chief technical officer Rouven Mohr revealing that all options are possible.
He explained that the new rule demanding that Lamborghini run two SC63s in WEC was proving problematical for reasons of resource, both financial and technical.
It appears that the most likely option is that the Italian manufacturer will concentrate on GTP in the IMSA SportsCar Championship in North America, its biggest market, and leave the WEC’s Hypercar class.
Iron Lynx made no reference to Lamborghini in its announcement made at the same time as the statement from Mercedes.
Mercedes is planning a new GT3 car to replace the long-serving current car after bringing development for the class in-house rather than using long-term partner HWA.
