A driver swap in Le Mans Ultimate happens in the pit lane during a team event. The driver in the car (or the team's engineer) picks the next driver in the driver field of the MFD, the car comes in for a normal stop, and control passes to the teammate who is waiting on the same server.
You can only do it in team events. Not in a single player race weekend, and not in a solo online race. Below is how to get a team into one of those events, how the swap itself works, what the engineer can do for you, the drive time rule, and what changed in the latest patches before the 24 hour race in October.
Checked on 15 October 2026 against Studio 397's update notes on Steam up to version 1.4.3, the official Le Mans Ultimate posts about team races, and the Season 13 Online Championships announcement. Where something is not published, I say so instead of filling the gap.
Where you can do a driver swap
Driver swaps arrived with Update 5 on 10 June 2025. At first they were only in curated Special Events, so Studio 397 could watch the servers under load. This is where they stand now:
| Mode | Swaps | What you need |
|---|---|---|
| Special Events (team races) | Yes, live in the pit lane | A team, a registered lineup of 2 or more drivers |
| Team Online Championship | Yes | Added in version 1.2. Open to RaceControl Pro and Pro+ subscribers |
| Co-op | A stint handover, not a live swap | Each driver runs a stint offline, RaceControl passes the race on |
| Single player race weekend | No | Not available |
| Solo online races | No, but you can invite an engineer | Since version 1.2 |
Co-op is a different thing. You drive your stint on your own, in your own time, and the race is handed to your teammate after. It is good practice for strategy, but nobody waits on a server for you. This guide is about the live swap.
Build the team first
Every swap starts with a team. Teams are built inside the game on RaceControl, and each member gets a role: Driver, Engineer, Manager or Team Owner. The team owner attaches people to a car, which the game calls a lineup, and the lineup is what you register for an event.
The rules Studio 397 published for its team races:
- At least 2 drivers per lineup. No solo entries.
- At most 6 people per team, engineers included.
- Assign roles before you register. A teammate without the driver role cannot take the car.
- Splits are built from DR. Since October 2025, 75% of it comes from the lineup DR and 25% from the driver DR.
For the 24 hour race last November, the official page also listed a 62 car cap per split, 10 minutes of practice and 20 minutes of private qualifying. Studio 397 has not published the session times for the October 2026 edition yet, so check the event page in game before you plan stints.
How to do a driver swap, step by step
This is the procedure from Studio 397's own description. The game does not ask you to use a separate menu. It is the pit stop you already know, with one more field filled in.
- Everybody joins the server. The driver who is handing over and the driver who is taking over must both be connected. The game knows which car each team member has access to, so your teammates sit on the same car.
- Pick the next driver. In the pit menu of the MFD, change the driver field from your name to your teammate's. They have to be on the server to take the car.
- Set the rest of the stop. Fuel, virtual energy, tyres and repairs, as in any stop. If you have an engineer, they can set all of this for you.
- Come in and stop in the box. The swap happens at that stop. You lose control, your teammate gets it.
- The new driver drives out. Same car, with its damage, its energy and its track limit points. Version 1.2 fixed the Hypercar battery being refilled at a handover, so you do not get free energy from a swap.
Two details from the patch notes are worth knowing. You can swap before the race start: version 1.4.0.2 fixed a bug where a driver who took control before the formation start was put in the pit lane instead of on the grid. And if you join a server where your teammate is already driving, version 1.1.1.3 fixed the timing being wrong for you, so the data you see on the watch screen should now be right.
How long the swap adds to a stop is not published. The only number in the notes is a V1.2 fix for the Ligier JS P325 LMP3, where a swap took 33 seconds longer than a normal fuel stop. Treat that as a bug that was fixed, not as a rule. Time your own stops in practice.
Engineer mode
Engineer mode came with version 1.2 on 9 December 2025. Before that, in the test races, an engineer could connect and watch the timing and the energy data, but could not touch the pit stop. The driver in the car had to set everything, including who drove next.
Now the engineer can set the teammate's pit stop: tyres, fuel, energy and who should be driving next. Since version 1.4.2 on 22 September 2026, the engineer pit menu also has the penalty options. You can also invite a Steam friend who owns the game to be your engineer in solo Special Events and Online Championships.
I would use it. In real endurance racing the driver does not set the stop. The engineer calls it on the radio, you confirm, you drive. Every lap you spend looking at the MFD in a 24 hour race is a lap where your eyes are not on the braking point. Give the stop to whoever is not driving.
Engineer mode had bugs this year, so check the stop before you commit to the pit lane:
| Version | Date | Engineer fix |
|---|---|---|
| 1.3.3.4 | 17 Jun 2026 | Engineer changes going back to the old values after a swap |
| 1.4.1.0 | 10 Aug 2026 | Engineer changes reverting to default after 5 seconds |
| 1.4.2 | 22 Sep 2026 | Damage not showing on the engineer menu until the driver touched the MFD |
| 1.4.3 | 6 Oct 2026 | Tyre option NO CHANGE for the engineer, fair share shown to engineers in solo events |
Minimum drive time
Version 1.4 on 28 July 2026 added minimum drive time requirements for team events. Studio 397's wording: if a lineup does not meet it, it gains no DR or championship points, but it can still lose DR. It also said players who had used this as an exploit would have their DR corrected.
So the rule is aimed at teams that let their fastest driver do the whole race. The exact minimum per driver is not in the patch notes. The game tracks a fair share value for each driver, and you can see it on the watch screen. Watch it during the race, and plan your stints so every driver is clear of the minimum with a stint to spare. A known issue from version 1.4: if you rejoin the server during a team event, fair share, stint and lap data on the watch screen can show wrong values.
What changed in 1.4.3
Version 1.4.3 came out on 6 October 2026 (build 25661166). I read the notes line by line. It fixes swap bugs. It does not change how you do a swap.
| Area | What the 1.4.3 notes say |
|---|---|
| Driver Swaps, Online | Fixed damage not being restored correctly after disconnecting from an event |
| Driver Swaps, Online | Fixed a rare case of the AI taking over the car during a driver swap event |
| Driver Swaps, Engineer | A line about the engineer not being able to select NO CHANGE on tyres |
| Driver Swaps, Engineer | Fixed fair share being shown to race engineers in solo events |
| Netcode | Fixed a rare case of track limit points not passing to teammates correctly |
| Netcode | Longer server time out, with a HUD message |
The engineer tyre line is written as an issue title without the word "fixed". Studio 397 lists other fixes in the same notes that way too, so it most likely is one. Test it in practice before you rely on it in the race.
The track limits line matters more than it looks. Penalty points belong to the car, not to the driver. If your teammate has used up most of them, you start your stint with them.
Before the 24 hours
Studio 397 confirmed in September that the 24 Hours of Le Mans special event runs in October, and it ran public network tests before it, including a 12 hour race at Le Mans scheduled for 25 September. The exact dates of the October race are not on Studio 397's Steam news as I write this. Community sites list the week of 20 October. Check the event card in game.
If you cannot get a slot, the Season 13 Team Championship is the other place to swap. It started on 6 October 2026:
| Team Championship, Season 13 | Value |
|---|---|
| Classes | Hypercar and LMGT3 |
| Entry | Lineup Bronze 3 SR, each driver B2 SR, no Rookie or Warning badges |
| Sessions | 5 min practice, 15 min private qualifying, 6 hour race |
| Tyres available | 20 |
| Track limits | Strict, 8 points |
| Races (Saturday, 03:00, 12:00, 19:00 UTC) | Interlagos (week 2), Imola (week 4), Paul Ricard (week 6), Daytona (week 8) |
My checklist for any team race:
- Update everyone to 1.4.3. Damage restore and the AI takeover fix only help if the whole lineup runs it.
- Do one swap in practice. Two if there is time. Real teams rehearse the driver change for hours. You have ten minutes, so use them.
- Agree who sets the stop. Engineer or driver, never both.
- Write the stint plan with fair share in it. Every driver over the minimum, with margin.
- Keep the next driver at the screen early. Studio 397 says to wait at least 60 seconds and send your trace log if you cannot drive after a swap. In a 24 hour race, that minute is better spent before the stop than after it.
If your setup is not sorted yet, start from the free Le Mans Ultimate setups, and make sure every driver in the lineup has a wheel that is set up the same way with my Le Mans Ultimate FFB settings. The track list covers every circuit on the team calendar. If you also race in ACC, the procedure there is different, and I wrote it up in ACC driver swaps.
FAQ
How do you do a driver swap in Le Mans Ultimate?
Register a team lineup for a team event. With both drivers on the server, set the driver field in the pit menu of the MFD to your teammate, then make a normal pit stop. Control passes to them in the box.
Can you do driver swaps in single player in Le Mans Ultimate?
No. Live swaps are in online team events only. Co-op lets you hand a race to a teammate between stints, but each stint is driven offline.
Do you need RaceControl to do a driver swap?
You need a team, and teams run on RaceControl inside the game. The Team Online Championship needs a RaceControl Pro or Pro+ subscription.
How many drivers can a team have in Le Mans Ultimate?
At least 2 drivers per lineup, and up to 6 people per team including engineers, in Studio 397's team races.
Is there a minimum drive time in Le Mans Ultimate team races?
Yes, since version 1.4. A lineup that misses it gains no DR or championship points but can still lose DR. Studio 397 has not published the exact minimum in the patch notes.
Can someone else set my pit stop?
Yes. Since version 1.2, an engineer on your team can set tyres, fuel, energy and the next driver.
What did Le Mans Ultimate 1.4.3 change for driver swaps?
Bug fixes only: damage restored after a disconnect, no more AI taking over during a swap, track limit points passed correctly to teammates, and engineer menu fixes. The swap procedure is the same.