It’s what everyone’s been waiting for! The 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship begins at the Losail International Circuit for no less than 10 hours of epic racing. And as always, I’m here to take you through it all!

After a quicker stop and a better outlap than its rival, Ferrari’s #83 retook the lead from #50 in Hypercar as tyre strategy became the focus, while TF Sport’s #33 Corvette took the lead ahead of both Mclarens in LMGT3. Team WRT’s #31 BMW ran fourth ahead of Heart of Racing’s #27 Aston Martin in fifth. 

After the Hypercar pit stops the order after the Ferrari pair were the two Toyotas, #7 ahead of #8 while both BMW’s then ran behind them. Cadillac’s much delayed #12 entry was still on for some good points as the time ticked away while the #94 Peugeot received a drive through penalty for earlier contact with one of the Porsches as the lead was once again under dispute between the two Ferrari’s as the #51 somehow clawed its way back into the fight for victory overall.

In LMGT3, the #46 BMW and #95 Mclaren then became the latest victims of a drive through penalty after a number of track limits violations for Valentino Rossi’s team. It caused the BMW to drop outside the points paying positions and the #88 Proton Ford inherited its position on track. The Mclaren meanwhile received its own for an unsafe release.

Approaching the final hour, both classes were still up for grabs and actively being fought over, with the final pit stops not too far away.

The first contender to pit from the lead was Robert Kubica in the #83, though they had roughly fifteen percent less virtual energy than the other Ferrari’s and a tyre disadvantage. Fuoco then overtook LMGT3 traffic off track as he took the lead and advantage, and he’d have the advantage of stopping last and being able to push more in the final stint. #51 was the second Ferrari to pit, with James Calado handing over to Alessandro Pier Guidi as the team set about completing a comeback victory with fresh tyres on the left side to cover off the Toyota #7’s chance of a podium.

As it turned out, the #8 Toyota overtook the sister car during the pit cycle and set about taking third place from Pier Guidi as BMW’s #20 triple stinted their tyres to the end in a bid to gain track position. 

The crucial final stop though was a successful one for the #50 crew as Ferrari bid to win their first non Le Mans WEC race. Fuoco managed to get out with an eight second advantage over Kubica while Pier Guidi was still busy fending off a late charge from the Toyota pairing.

So with 45 minutes left, Ferrari led 1-2-3 with the #51 having surely the drive of the weekend. The car was much delayed compared to its teammates with a number of penalties bogging it down but they put on a great fight to climb up to the podium.

The battle for LMGT3 then slimmed to an all out fight between the #33 Corvette and #59 Mclaren, separated by less than a second. The Corvette had the advantage though, as its rival was really having to stretch their virtual energy to the point it might run out before the finish. That would bring Heart of Racing into the picture. It was a tense finale for the LMGT3 class to say the least.

And in the end, that’s how it would end.  Ferrari would lock out the podium of a World Championship race for the first time since 1965 and took their first WEC victory outside of Le Mans. It was the #50 car of Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen who took victory ahead of the #83 of Yifei Ye, Robert Kubica and Phil Hanson who took 2nd, with the latter taking a podium on his Ferrari hypercar debut. BMW’s #20 car took fourth ahead of the Toyotas #8 and #7.

LMGT3 would see Dani Juncadella hold on to an excellent victory in a complete turnaround and a fantastic way to start its second year in the World Endurance Championship. Alongside him were Johnny Edgar who took victory on his debut and Ben Keating as they beat the #59 Mclaren with the podium rounded out by BMW’s #31 team. 

It means Ferrari will lead the manufacturer’s championship ahead of BMW and Toyota going into April’s 6 Hours of Imola, and I’m absolutely looking forward to that one. It’s been a pleasure to cover this fantastic race, and I can’t wait for the 12 Hours of Sebring in just a few weeks time.

See you then, 

Thomas.