WEC: Ferrari clinches titles in Bahrain

Ferrari has secured the 2025 FIA Hypercar World Endurance Championship Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ titles in today’s 8 Hours of Bahrain, the finale of this year’s eight-event campaign

In its third season in the FIA WEC’s top tier, the legendary Italian marque has been the benchmark throughout the year in the Hypercar class, winning the opening four races with its 499P prototype to establish an advantage that none of its rivals was ultimately able to overcome.

The result marks the Prancing Horse’s first global endurance racing triumph in the top class since lifting the laurels in the World Sportscar Championship more than half a century ago, in 1972, finishing a commanding 75 points ahead of closest competitor Toyota in the Manufacturers’ classification.

To complete Ferrari’s joy, its three crews locked out the top three positions in the Drivers’ standings. Courtesy of a fourth-place finish in Bahrain, Antonio Giovinazzi, James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi clinched the crown behind the wheel of the #51 Ferrari AF Corse entry, having led the way since triumphing on home turf at Imola back in April.

The runner-up honours went to 24 Hours of Le Mans winners Robert Kubica, Phil Hanson and Yifei Ye in the privately-run #83 AF Corse 499P, with the #50 Ferrari AF Corse crew of Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina taking third.

TOYOTA EXTENDS OUTSTANDING BAHRAIN RECORDToyota entered this weekend’s Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain staring down the barrel of a winless FIA World Endurance Championship campaign for the first time in a decade. Courtesy of a peerless performance in Sakhir, the Japanese manufacturer banished that prospect in fine fashion.

Toyota may be FIA WEC’s most successful manufacturer by some margin, but the 2025 season has been a challenging one for the brand. Heading to Bahrain International Circuit, neither of its crews had stood on any step of the podium this year, let alone the top one. This evening, they occupied the top two.

Having locked out the front row of the grid in qualifying 24 hours earlier, Toyota’s pair of GR010 Hybrid Hypercars dominated proceedings in the desert over the course of a compelling eight-hour contest that began in daylight and concluded after dark.

The pole-sitting #7 Hypercar, piloted by Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries, led the majority of the race, ultimately taking the chequered flag just under 20 seconds ahead of the sister #8 car shared by Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa.

MANTHEY BAGS TITLE AS AKKODIS ASP TAKES SECOND WIN OF SEASONThe Akkodis ASP Lexus team secured its second win of the 2025 season at the Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain, but only after a tense finale in which the French-entered squad’s victory appeared to be under serious threat in the closing stages.

While the Akkodis ASP team added Bahrain to its maiden 6 Hours of São Paulo win in July, a fourth-place finish confirmed the Manthey 1stPhorm squad of Richard Lietz, Ryan Hardwick and Riccardo Pera as both 2025 LMGT3 Drivers’ and Teams’ champions.