​The 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) is set to commence with the Qatar 1812km at Lusail International Circuit from February 26 to 28. This season opener promises intense competition, featuring 36 entries across two categories: 18 in Hypercar and 18 in LMGT3.​ With big names like Toyota, Porsche, Ferrari, Cadillac, Alpine, Peugeot, BMW, and the debuting Aston Martin fielding at least 2 cars in the top class of Endurance racing, this season is promised to be one of the most intense in recent times.

Porsche’s Title Defense and Aspirations

Porsche enters the season having won 4 out of the 5 titles that were on offer last year. They won the Hypercar World Endurance Drivers’ Championship with their #6 Porsche 963, the LMGT3 Drivers and Teams Championship through Manthey PureRxing fielding their Porsche 911 GT3 R, and lastly, the FIA World Cup for Hypercar Teams through their customer team, Hertz Team Jota.

Porsche has had a good start to the year courtesy of their win in the 24 Hours of Daytona. They will be looking to build on this in Losail, a circuit they dominated last year locking out all 3 spots of the podium in Hypercar and taking the top step in GT3. If things go their way, Porsche can do a clean sweep and take all the five titles WEC has to offer this year.

Key challengers: Toyota and Ferrari

Toyota, who had been the dominant force for the past few years in the top class of endurance racing were dethroned by Porsche in 2024. They did however manage to put their hands on the Manufacturers’ Championship. For 2025, Toyota will once again field its proven GR010 HYBRID package, which has undergone no significant changes and will enter its fifth season of competition.

Ferrari joined the hypercar class in 2023, debuting in the season opener 1000 Miles of Sebring. In their first year, Ferrari won the gruelling and prestigious 24h of Le Mans, they repeated this feat again in 2024 with their sister car. Expectations have been high from Ferrari ever since they joined the grid 2 years back but they have not well and truly been the championship contenders. Ferrari would hope that going into their third year in the competition they can constantly fight at the top.

New kids on the WEC block: Aston Martin and Mercedes

The wait is over, the Aston Martin Valkyrie will finally be a part of the WEC grid in 2025. Set to compete in the Hypercar class for the 2025 season, the British manufacturer’s entry turned heads with its unmistakable growl, courtesy of its naturally aspirated V12 engine. The Valkyries are being run by THOR (The Heart of Racing) bearing numbers #007 and #009. The team is very realistic in terms of their approach, they know being outright competitive is difficult, which is why it’s their long-term goal to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans and challenging constantly for wins in WEC. Meanwhile, in the short term, the learning process continues.

Mercedes is the newest manufacturer to join the GT3 grid in WEC, returning to Le Mans after 26 years. The German manufacturer has teamed up with Iron Lynx who will run two Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo in the championship. It’s a steep learning curve for the manufacturer and team as Iron Lynx is making a switch from the Lamborghini Huracan LMGT3 EVO2s and it should not come as a surprise that they completed a staggering 1,500 kilometres for both their #60 and #61 LMGT3 participants.

Rossi Returns: The Doctor is back in the BMW

A nine-time world champion on two wheels, Valentino Rossi will return for a second season in the FIA World Endurance Championship, after the Italian was confirmed in the Team WRT line-up for 2025. Rossi enjoyed a positive first-year campaign in the series’ fiercely-disputed LMGT3 category. He finished just shy of the podium on his debut in Qatar, before missing out on the top step of the podium on home soil at Imola. Following a starring turn in the lead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a second rostrum result was achieved at Fuji, as the Doctor secured sixth spot in the final championship standings in his #46 BMW M4 LMGT3 with his teammates.

“I’m very happy to continue my experience in FIA WEC, as last year was a strong debut season,” Rossi remarked. “We had some good races, and we want to try to be stronger and faster. We will work hard together with BMW to improve our performance and be more competitive in every race.

Where to Watch and Schedule

The 2025 Qatar 1812KM kicks off at 4:30 PM Indian Standard Time. You can watch all the sessions live on WEC’s Official Streaming Service. You can see the full schedule for the weekend below.

Read more: Mahaveer Ragunathan on his ambitions to join WEC.

After wrapping up the series’ biggest race in Le Mans, the WEC paddock heads south to the Autódromo José Carlos Pace. The last time time WEC still held the 6 Hours of São Paulo was back in 2014. Now a decade later, WEC heads back to South America to start the second part of the season. In the both the classes, the competition is close as ever. Thus, there is a lot to look forward to. Here is the DRC preview for the 6 Hours of São Paulo.

The Title fight – Porsche X Ferarri X Toyota

Perhaps the biggest point heading into São Paulo is just how close the championship is at halfway through the season. In the manufacturers, Porsche is sitting at 108 points, 9 ahead of Ferrari (99), who themselves are 3 ahead of Toyota (96). Ferrari had a strong showing the last time out in France. (Click here to read our Le Mans report.) But the Italian brand is yet to win a race outside of La Saarthe. In order to win the overall championship, they would surely be looking to win on Brazilian soil.

Porsche had qualified at pole for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but they struggled keep up with the pace come the race end. Porsche has had success at this track, in a very different car nevertheless. With a total of 104 points still up for grabs in the 2024 season, its anyone’s championship for the taking.

TOYOTA-Conway returns to #7

Mike Conway, the regular driver of the no. 7 Toyota hypercar was forced to sit out the 24 Hours of Le Mans after a cycling incident. Now, nearly a month later, He is completely fit and ready to jump back in the #7. His crew of the no. 7 car is still in the competetion for the drivers championship, and he will be working this weekend to get closer to that trophy.

The other Toyota, #8 was robbed of a podium finish in Le Mans after the #51 Ferrari nudged them into a spin in the closing stages of the races. This weekend, they would surely be looking to do themsselves one better and top the leaderboards.

BOP changes incoming for Brazil

Incoming this weekend is BOP changes. In the Hypercar category, the Isotta Fraschini has shed the most weight while teams like Ferrari and Toyota have taken up weight. However, when you take into account the ‘Power Gain’ system used by WEC to manage power beyond 250Kph, Ferrari and Toyota have managed to enter into increased power figures overall.

Ferrari and Toyota have gained 1.8% and 2.8% respectively. Meanwhile, Lamborghini, Alpine and Cadillac have each lost 1%, 1.3% and 1.5% after the threshold of 250kph. Isotta, Porsche and BMW have 0 gain or loss after 250 kph.

LMGT3 – Championship fight in full swing

If the Hypercar category is showing a close championship, the LMGT3 is not behind either. The top two teams (Manthey EMA and Mathey PureRXcing) sit on the exact no. of points, 75. The third placed team is Team WRT #31 placed just 2 points behind the table toppers.

The other team under Team WRT is the no. 46 BMW piloted by Ahmed Al Harthy, Maxime Martin and Valentino Rossi. They had a particularly difficult Le Mans as they crashed out in the Dunlop Chicane. They were showing good pace until the crash and surely they would be hoping to replicate atleast their racepace here in Brazil.

The other fan favourite team, Iron Dames is in good form as well. They have recently won in class at the 4 Hours of Imola in European Le Mans Series (ELMS) held durng 5-7 July.

At Interlagos, a track which is comparitively narrow for multiclass racing, it will be very thrilling for us fans to watch how different races unfold amongst different classes.

The Track

The Autódromo José Carlos Pace, or Interlagos as it is known amongst fans, is a track that tests every aspect of a car. The first 3 corners flows one into another effectively tugging at the downforce of the car. Coming immediately after is a straight that will be the hotspot for clearing backmarker traffic. Interlagos is a track where every corner flows into another, and with modern machines capable of eye watering speeds, the drivers will hardly get any time to rest. Setting up a car for this track will also be a workload as it requires both downforce and low drag conditions for the best performance. Hitting that sweet spot between the two will be important for the best results.

When and where to watch

In India, Eurosport will be broadcasting the races on TV.

With a close contested Le Mans 24 Hours that saw the top 9 cars finish at the lead lap, it was anybody’s win for the taking. But come the race end at 19:30 IST on Sunday, it would be the no. 50 Ferrari who would cross the finish line first.

Celebrations down in Maranello

With strong showing in terms of reliability and performance from most of the hypercar field, it was brewing to be an interesting race.

Through the night, a less familiar yellow Ferrari was at the top, the No. 83 of AF Corse. However, its first trouble came in the form of a collision with no. 15 BMW LMDh of Dries Vanthoor. Kubica was given a 30-second penalty for causing this collision.

This was the end of the no. 83’s lead run.

That car would not finish as they retired due to a hybrid system issue.

But come the race end, it ultimately boiled down to a Toyota vs Ferrari battle for the win. No. 50 Ferrari found another obstacle in their course when its right hand side door came undone. This forced Nicklas Nielsen to come into the pits in the final 2 hours of the race, out of sequence with everybody else.

After Toyota completed its final pit stop of the race, it suspected the 50 Ferrari would need to stop once again. But as the end of the race came near, it became clear to Toyota that Ferrari were not stopping. They asked Jose Maria Lopez in no. 7 car to bring home P2.

With Nicklas Nielsen at the wheel, the no. 50 car co piloted by Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina crossed the finish line first with no. 7 toyota in second and last year’s winners no. 51 crew in third after serving a 5 second penalty given to them for spinning the no. 8 Toyota.

With this win, Ferrari has maintained its 100% win percentage at the Circuit De La Sarthe with the mighty 499P.

Toyota’s valiant effort

The start of the WEC season was not a strong showing by the Japanese crew. Hence, the Toyotas were not on the winners prediction of many people. When the qualifying session came to an end, Kamui Kobayashi in no. 7 car was looking quick. However he ended up making a rare mistake and spun his car causing a red flag. This meant his lap time was deleted. The no. 7 car started the race in 23rd (last amongst the hypercars).

Apart from this, the regular driver of no. 7 car, Mike Conway had injured himself before the race in a cycling accident. He was replaced by Jose Maria Lopez.

After the retirement of no. 83 ferrari, it looked like a three way battle between porsche, Ferrari and the Toyotas.

All through the night, the no. 8 Toyota was at the top of the standings. The other Toyota (no. 7) in the hands of Kamui Kobayashi was looking fastas well as he posted the fastest lap of the race at lap 254 (3:28.756). As the race neared its end, the Toyotas were looking well suited to challenge for victory. However trouble arrived for the no. 8 as no. 51 Ferrari nudged the Toyota into the Mulsanne corner. It fell to 6th position and everntually finished in fifth.

The no. 7 Toyota almost completed a last to first challenge as it split the red Ferrari on the podium.

Porsches still not back to the top step at Le Mans

Porsche has had a strong start to the season with a win in Qatar and a 100% podium appearance. Hence, going into the Le mans 24 Hours , they looked strong competitors for the overall win. This was further strengthened when the No. 6 Porsche in the hands of Kevin Estre took pole on Thursday.

However come the start of the race, they were passed quite quickly by the strong Ferraris.

This along with a wrong wet tyre change strategy meant the Porsche was not off to a strong start. However as the night rolled on, Porsche was looked as being the frontrunners for overall victory.

But trouble was back for Porsche. No. 4 car of Mathieu Jaminet, Felipe Nasr and Nick Tandy was out of the race as it crashed into the tyre wall at Indianapolis

The no. 5 and no. 6 were looking off the pace as the race got underway after the safety car period. They eventually finished in 6th and 4th respectively.

The mighty JOTA crew

In the qualifying session held on Wednesday night, Callum Illot at the wheel of the no. 12 JOTA lost control of his car in the esses. This crash did not looked heavy at first glance but when the mechanics looked closely, they found that the chassis of the car had been damaged.

This meant that if they wanted to field the no. 12 car in the race, they needed to build a car from scratch in just 24 hours! A usual build like this takes 3 whole weeks. But the mighty JOTA crew managed to complete it in just 24 hours. They did the shakedown on the Le Mans Airfield.

They eventually finished the race in P8 (no. 12) and P9 (no. 38)

Cadillac’s one lap pace

Cadillac might not appear as clear cut winners when you look at the final race standings. The no. 3 retired due to an engine issue and no. 311 fnished way behind the lead pack, 31 laps to be precise. Only the no. 2 Cadillac finished in P7 bagging points for the american outfit. Their one lap pace, however, looked mighty stronng. With factory Cadillacs finishing hyperpole in P2 (no. 3) and P3 (no.2), they certainly hoped for a better result out of the final race.

Lamborghini’s succesful debut

Iron Lynx’ operated Lamborghini effort had a pretty succesful debut at the 2024 Le Mans 24 Hours. With a race that tests every nook and crook of a car, the Italian outfit had both its cars across the finish line. The no. 63 car piloted by M. Bortolotti, D. Kvyat and E. Mortara even scored a point by finishing in P10. The other car no. 19 finished P13 with R. Grosjean, A. Caldarelli and M. Cairoliat the wheel.

Trouble for the BMW and Peugeot 

Unlike Lamborghini, BMW’s debut was not pleasant. Out of the two cars, no. 15 car of Dries Vanthoor suffered an accident while getting lapped by no. 83 Ferrari of Kubica. This led to the no. 15 shunting into tyre wall and effectively out of the race.

The other BMW no. 20 started the race in 16th and climbed up to P10 before Robin Frijns lost grip in the ford chicanes and crashed into the tire wall 2 hours into the race.

They rejoined the track 30 minutes later and eventually finished the race 215 laps down on the leaders.

Peugeot had a lukewarm race as well. On one hand they managed to complete the entire 24 hours with both their cars just 2 laps down on the leaders, but they lacked pace to contest for the top points paying positions. The better of the Peugeots, no. 94, got beat by the Lamborghini SC63 for the final points position by a mere 8 seconds.

Eventually 94 Peugeot finished in P11 while 93 Peugeot finished in P12.

Alpine’s engine woes

Alpine was the team that took the biggest loss in the hypercar category. At the start of the race, both the Alpines were doing pretty good and no. 36 ran in P13 overall.

But come the fifth hour, both the cars were out of the race due to an engine issue .

In a race where fellow debutants like Lamborghini and even Isotta Fraschini managed to finished to complete 24 hours, Alpine managed to do only 5. The French team surely need to ask questions and come up with solutions.

Close fight in the LMP2 class

In the LMP2 category, no. 22 machine of United Autosports piloted by Oliver Jarvis, Bijoy Garg and Nolan Siegel finished in first place in the Le Mans 24 Hours. This was the second class win for the team. The top five teams in the LMP2 category after a complete 24 hours of racing was a mere 40 seconds! Last year’s Le Mans LMP2 winners Inter Europol competetion team came in P2 by 18 seconds.

Manthey’s magic in LMGT3

In the LMGT3 class it was pure domination by the Manthey EMA no. 91 car. They finished a lap ahead of the second placed Team WRT BMW no. 31. This was Manthey’s debut at the Le Mans 24 hours in the LMGT3 era. The podium was rounded up by the Proton competetion no. 88 Mustang.

Elsewhere, the no. 46 BMW of Team WRT piloted by Ahmad Al Harthy, Valentino Rossi and Maxime Martin was leading the LMGT3 pack before a mistake by Al Harthy meant the car crashed into the tire barriers at the Dunlop chicane. This ended the no. 46′ race.

With a total of 23 hypercars starting the race and the top 9 hypercars finishing at the lead lap, praise shall also be showered at ACO, the conducting body of Le Mans 24 Hours for creating a true balance of power. Even in the lower classes, the racing was as close as ever. All these facts truly reflect that we are in the golden era of endurance racing.

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