Last year’s winner James Calado reveals how the drivers feel on the Monday after the 24 Hours of Le Mans and what his victorious Ferrari team-mates can now expect
Last year, Ferrari driver James Calado had every reason to be happy: together with Alessandro Pier Guidi and Antonio Giovinazzi, the Briton celebrated overall victory in the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans. Calado therefore knows exactly how the drivers and especially his victorious team-mates Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen will feel on Monday after the race
“[You’re] destroyed for a week. Not physically, just mentally. You’re just stupid, but I think most drivers would say the same,” jokes the Ferrari driver, who says he is flying to Greece to relax with his family.
Sleeping in on the Monday after the race is hardly possible “for various reasons”, reveals Calado, who is always “up early because of all the adrenaline” and also booked an early flight home last year. “It’s like you’re living in two different worlds. You live in this world, and then you have the reality at home. And that’s a big difference, it’s a balance between the two. “
Le Mans success “doesn’t really penetrate “
That’s why there’s not much time to celebrate on Sunday evening. “Last year, I tried to have a few beers with the guys, but I only had one and was completely exhausted,” the Le Mans winner recalls of the previous year, when he was confronted with a lot of emotions. “I was so overwhelmed.”
Even on Monday after the race, Calado still couldn’t quite believe what he had achieved the day before. It had been “a strange feeling”, he looked back: “It doesn’t really sink in, that’s the right way to describe it. You realize you’ve achieved a big thing when you’ve won the race, but you’re still in the recovery phase. “
Instead, Calado didn’t realize what he had achieved at Le Mans until a few days later, when he was “celebrating with family and friends at home” and was finally able to toast what was arguably the most important success of his career. “There was also a bit more attention, then you realize that someone is following the WEC, and it’s back home in the UK,” beams the Brit. “It was very nice to get some recognition.”
Fuoco, Molina and Nielsen will probably only reach this phase after their Le Mans triumph in the next few days, when the recovery phase is complete and they slowly realize what they achieved on Sunday
