WEC: Ferrari maintains perfect start to 2025 with Imola triumph

Ferrari has made it two-from-two in the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship on home soil at Imola today, sending the devoted tifosi into delirium as the #51 crew of James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi and Alessandro Pier Guidi converted pole position into victory

In a race that majored on strategic skill and astute tyre choice, the #51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P Hypercar always looked most likely to win – at one stage holding a lead of almost half-a-minute over its closest pursuer – but a series of incidents and twists-and-turns meant the result could never be taken for granted.

Indeed, a second safety car intervention with just over two hours remaining on the clock shuffled the pack, but despite coming under pressure from Porsche, Toyota and BMW, the #51 crew boldly held their nerve around the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari to take the chequered flag almost ten seconds to the good.

“It’s been a superb weekend,” acknowledged Giovinazzi, who remains undefeated in Hyperpole in FIA WEC in 2025. “Since Friday, we’ve always been on top. There were a lot of Full Course Yellows and safety cars in the race, which is not easy to manage at all, but the team did a fantastic job and we were able to take all the right decisions. The car was fantastic, my team-mates were fantastic and the tifosi were fantastic. It’s been an amazing Sunday!”

The success – Ferrari’s first overall endurance racing win on Italian soil as a factory effort since 1973 – has vaulted Giovinazzi, Calado and Pier Guidi to the summit of the Drivers’ standings with a quarter of the season now in the rear-view mirror, while the Prancing Horse maintains a healthy advantage in the chase for the Manufacturers’ crown.

BMW and Alpine exploited an alternative strategy to claim the remaining two places on the podium. Despite René Rast picking up rear wing damage in a clash with Mike Conway’s Toyota at the Curva Gresini, the #20 BMW M Team WRT Hypercar the German shares with Robin Frijns and Sheldon van der Linde fought back to clinch second.

That marked the trio’s maiden top three finish in the championship, with Alpine Endurance Team making the most of a strong qualifying performance to round out the rostrum in third, as Mick Schumacher, Jules Gounon and Frédéric Makowiecki wound up less than four seconds further in arrears.

AF Corse sealed FIA World Cup for Hypercar Teams honours in fourth with its Robert Kubica, Philip Hanson and Yifei Ye-piloted Ferrari, followed by the best of the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing entries – the #8 GR010 Hybrid – in fifth. 

Sébastien Buemi was one of the stars of the race during his stint behind the wheel, as the Swiss star unleashed a defensive masterclass to keep Ferrari’s Antonio Fuoco at bay. The Italian’s team-mate Nicklas Nielsen brought spectators to their feet early on, as he scythed his way through the field from last on the 18-car grid up into the top six.

The #15 BMW was another podium protagonist before ultimately slipping to sixth ahead of the #7 Toyota, with 2024 Drivers’ champions Kévin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor scoring their first points of the season in eighth. Much like Buemi, the pair’s stablemate in the #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 Hypercar, Matt Campbell, was a standout performer as the Australian confidently fended off a determined Giovinazzi for lap-after-lap in the fourth hour on higher-mileage tyres. 

For the first time in FIA WEC history, race winners received the FIA President’s Medals following today’s 6 Hours of Imola. Calado, Giovinazzi and Pier Guidi were awarded personal keepsakes envisioned by FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem as a tangible symbol of success, which they received from the hands of Gian Carlo Minardi. Crafted from 100% recycled materials, the medals honour success while representing innovation and reflecting the FIA’s commitment to sustainability.

REIGNING CHAMPIONS DENY HOME HERO IN LMGT3

In LMGT3, defending champion Manthey opened its account for the season with a win for the 911, as Richard Lietz fended off BMW’s Kelvin van der Linde in a tense duel that went right the way down to the line, narrowly denying home hero and pole-sitter Valentino Rossi a famous home triumph.

The Imola crowd was treated to a nail-biting finish in the LMGT3 category, as – for the second event in succession – the battle for glory went right down to the wire. 

This time, Qatar duellists Corvette and McLaren were replaced by Porsche and BMW. Having secured pole position in qualifying in the hands of multiple MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi, the Team WRT BMW M4 LMGT3 EVO carried that stellar form over into the race, with Ahmad Al-Harthy opening up an early lead before his Italian team-mate further increased the crew’s advantage.

Unfortunately, a subsequent clash between the home hero and Simon Mann in the #21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari that pitched the latter into the Rivazza gravel trap resulted in a stop-and-go penalty, dropping the BMW to eighth.

A searing charge by Kelvin van der Linde then hauled the #46 car right onto the tail of race leader Richard Lietz in the closing stages, but try as he might, the South African was unable to prise the door open as his Manthey 1st Phorm rival resolutely stood his ground in the #91 Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3. 

The Austrian’s dogged defence delivered reigning LMGT3 title-winner Manthey its first victory of the campaign following a disappointing curtain-raising contest in Qatar, while forcing fan-favourite Rossi to settle for the runner-up spoils in his home race for the second consecutive year. After fighting up at the sharp end throughout, Akkodis ASP Team took third and fourth, thereby cementing Lexus’ breakthrough podium finish in FIA WEC competition.

Round three of the 2025 FIA WEC campaign – the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, in Belgium – will take place on 8-10 May.