A young talent from the Red Bull channel (Brendon Hartley, 26 years old) who has truly blossomed since he began racing in endurance, a former Formula 1 driver who went looking for his career's final challenge at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (Mark Webber, 39 years old) and a "Porsche kid" who broke all ties with GT and endurance (Timo Bernhard, 34 years old)...a look at an impressive and atypical trio.

Brendon Hartley, the underling - The New Zealander originally came from single-seaters: Formula Renault, Formula 3, GP2. In 2012, he was among the young drivers to choose endurance, via the LM P2 class. Twenty-three years old at the time, he quickly became a major player in the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) at the wheel of Irish team Murphy Prototypes' Oreca 03-Nissan, with a first win at the Paul Ricard circuit at the closing round of the 2013 season. A few days later, his name figured among the six drivers selected by Porsche to race the 919 Hybrid, along with Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas, Neel Jani, Marc Lieb and Mark Webber.

Mark Webber, the convert - It was precisely in 2013 that Mark Webber announced his retirement from Formula 1 and his intention to switch to the 24 Hours of Le Mans and endurance, after 215 Grand Prix and nine wins. By the end of the 2015 World Endurance Championship, he has clinched the well-deserved world title (which he could have won in 2010 in Formula 1), and it motivated him ten-fold for the last challenge of his career: victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. After having led the race in 2014 then finished second in 2015, there remains only (if that can be said, given the magnitude of the task!) one "more" step to climb on the podium...

Timo Bernhard, Porsche's guy - The German driver was able to experience the joy of winning at Le Mans in 2010...with Audi, including a new distance record, established along with teammates Romain Dumas and Mike Rockenfeller (5,405 kilometers at an average of 225 km/h). An expert in big endurance marathons, Timo Bernhard has also won at the three other huge endurance races: 12 Hours of Sebring, 24 Hours of Nürburgring and Daytona. A product of the Porsche path, he has climbed all the rungs of the German manufacturer's channel, from the marque's cups to to his world title won yesterday at the wheel of an LM P1 hybrid prototype.

Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

Photo: SAKHIR (KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN), BAHRAIN INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT, 6 HOURS OF BAHRAIN, SATURDAY NOVEMBER 21 2015, PODIUM. Fifth in the race, new World Champions Brendon Hartley, Mark Webber and Timo Bernhard (from left to right) joyously set aside the normal podium protocol!