FIA World Endurance Championship - 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps - Ferrari reigns, Alpine rises, and chaos unfolds at the 6 Hours of Spa!

In a race defined by strategy, pace, and penalties, the 2025 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps delivered action from the start to the finish, from Ferrari's Hypercar supremacy and Alpine's fearless charge, to LMGT3 surprises and dramatic mid-race twists, this FIA World Endurance Championship thriller set the stage for an exciting run-up to Le Mans.

LMGT3 QUALIFYING

The LMGT3 qualifying session got underway on the seven-kilometre circuit with fifteen minutes on the clock, and early in the session the #92 Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche 992 LMGT3 R laid down the benchmark with a 2:19.265. It was closely followed by a flurry of strong laps from competitors including the #21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 of François Heriau and the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage LMGT3 Evo of Ian James, who all were within close proximity in time. With six minutes remaining, the #88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang LMGT3 had surged into second place, just 0.125 seconds off the provisional pole time, meanwhile the sister #77 Mustang managed to slot into sixth, trailing by 0.844 seconds. As the session continued to intensify, the #21 Ferrari claimed the top spot with a narrow advantage with a 2:19.223.

In the closing minutes, the #78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F LMGT3 pushed up to fourth, followed by a solid effort from the #10 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin, which saw it place in eighth. As the chequered flag waved, the top ten moving into Hyperpole were the #21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari, #92 Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche, #87 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus, #88 Proton Competition Mustang, #78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus, #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin, #46 Team WRT BMW, #10 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin, #54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari and the #77 Proton Competition Mustang. Neither of the TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 LMGT3’s, United Autosports McLaren 720s LMGT3 Evo’s, or Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 Evo’s got through to the Hyperpole session, as well as the single Iron Dames Porsche and The Bend Team WRT BMW.

LMGT3 HYPERPOLE

Tension ramped up again with the start of the Hyperpole session, the fastest ten from the earlier session went all-out for the ultimate grid positions, with Valentino Rossi in the #46 Team WRT BMW M4 LMGT3 Evo initially shooting to the top with a 2:19.753, but was quickly toppled by the #88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang with a 2:18.737. Moments later, the Mustang improved once again to a 2:18.229. The spotlight shifted to the #78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F LMGT3, who lit up the timing screens with a blistering 2:17.732, taking provisional pole, while the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin climbed up to third position, as well as the #10 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin vaulting into fifth position with a lap just seven-tenths off the benchmark.

As the chequered flag waves, the leaderboard saw a dramatic shakeup with the #10 Aston Martin and #77 Mustang both improving, with the #10 edging into second place just 0.276 seconds behind the leader, narrowly beating the #77 by eight-thousandths. The final Hyperpole classification saw the #78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus take a maiden pole, with the sister #87 Lexus failing to set a lap time.

HYPERCAR QUALIFYING

The Hypercar class began their session, and immediately saw the kind of performance expected from the top prototype machines. The #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P briefly held the lead before the #50 AF Corse 499P went up to the top with a commanding 2:00.419 lap. As the session evolved, the #93 Peugeot TotalEnergies Peugeot 9X8 managed to climb into second position, just twenty-nine-hundredths off the top, while the #12 Hertz Team Jota Cadillac V-Series.R posted a time sufficient for fifth at the time, nearly a second down though. With less than thirty seconds remaining, the #38 Hertz Team Jota Cadillac driven by Earl Bamber slotted into ninth place, narrowly making the Hyperpole cut. 

As the session came to an end, the ten cars advancing into Hyperpole were the #50 Ferrari, #93 Peugeot, #83 Ferrari, #51 Ferrari, #36 Alpine, #12 Cadillac, #20 BMW, #35 Alpine, #38 Cadillac and the #94 Peugeot. Notably, the big names like the #15 BMW, both of the Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010’s, and all of the Porsche 963’s were left out, and unable to advance further.

HYPERCAR HYPERPOLE

As the final showdown began, all eyes were on who would take the coveted pole position for the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. Once the lap times started coming through, it was the #12 Hertz Team Jota Cadillac of Alex Lynn who momentarily snatched the top spot with a 2:04.988, massively off pace however. It was expectedly short-lived, as the #83 Ferrari 499P of Robert Kubica who surged ahead with a sub-two-minute lap of a 1:59.964, but the glory belonged to the #50 Ferrari of Antonio Fuoco once again, who clocked a sensational 1:59.617 to reclaim the lead. The sister #51 car followed closely in second position.

Although the #93 Peugeot of Jean-Éric Vergne managed to improve to sixth position later on in the session, it wasn’t enough to challenge for the front rows, and as the chequered flag flew, the final order saw the #50 Ferrari take pole position, followed by the privateer #83 Ferrari, and the #51 Ferrari. The two Peugeot’s managed to claim fourth and seventh position, while the Cadillac’s occupied fifth and tenth. The #36 Alpine qualified sixth, with the sister car in ninth, while the #20 BMW from Team WRT ended up in eighth.

RACE

Right as the green flag waved for the 2025 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the race descended into drama, with the #5 Porsche spinning at Les Combes, while the #10 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin, having started on the front row in LMGT3, fell from second to sixth on the opening lap. Just minutes later, the #85 Iron Dames Porsche 992 LMGT3 received a five-second time penalty for a start infringement, setting a tone of strict stewarding to come throughout the rest of the race. As well as stewarding decisions, the incidents piled up fast, as the #38 Hertz Team Jota Cadillac was handed a drive-through penalty for colliding with the #5 Porsche at turn five on the opening lap, while the #36 Alpine A424 was on a charge early on, first passing the #94 Peugeot at the Bus Stop chicane, before outmuscling the #83 Ferrari into La Source, causing the Ferrari to dip into the gravel. Meanwhile, the #12 Cadillac and #6 Porsche were forced off track at Speakers corner, and the #7 Toyota suffered a front-right puncture.

With barely half-an-hour of the race complete, a defining moment came when the #36 Alpine in the hands of Loïc Duval, stormed past the #51 Ferrari of James Calado around the outside at the top of Eau Rouge, one of the circuits’ most daunting corners, especially to go side-by-side, or make a move at.

By the five hour mark, the field had somewhat settled, but several penalties were issued, including a ten-second penalty for the #54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari, who caused an incident with the #92 Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche at La Source, while the #83 Ferrari, which was a strong contender early on, after starting on the front-row, rapidly dropped positions and ultimately ducked into the garage with mechanical issues just before the fourth hour. Unfortunately, the #99 Proton Competition privateer Porsche 963 of Nico Pino came to a halt at Les Combes, seeming to have lost all gears, prompting the first full course yellow of the race.

As racing resumed, just fifteen minutes later, the #31 The Bend Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 Evo of Yasser Shahin spun into the gravel after a scuffle with the #54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari of Thomas Flohr. Soon after, the #87 Lexus of Rӑzvan Umbrӑrescu came to a halt on the Kemmel Straight, prompting yet another full course yellow and subsequent safety car. When the racing got back underway, the battle for LMGT3 supremacy saw the #21 Ferrari overtake the #88 Ford Mustang for the class lead, however, the penalty board remained busy, seeing the #92 Porsche, #46 BMW, #77 Mustang, #15 BMW and #35 Alpine hit with speeding and procedural infringements under the VSC and FCY conditions.

As the race entered the third hour of racing, Paul Di Resta in the #93 Peugeot made a move on Antonio Giovinazzi in the #51 Ferrari for third position, while moments later his teammate Duval in the #94 managed to advance into fourth position after an impressive double overtake into Les Combes. Meanwhile, as the race neared the halfway point, the #36 Alpine, now piloted by Jules Gounon, leapt into the lead after the #50 Ferrari of Miguel Molina emerged from a pit stop.

As the race crossed the halfway point, the drama refused to let up, with the #95 United Autosports McLaren 720s LMGT3 Evo of Sean Gelael going into the barrier at Les Combes after contact with the #60 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG, which was rejoining the track after going off earlier on. This prompted another Safety Car, and during this SC period, the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin was given a drive-through penalty for a technical infringement. When the race resumed, it was the #93 Peugeot of Jean-Éric Vergne who led the field away, with the #36 Alpine of Gounon behind. However, an LMGT3 car between it and the Alpine saw the Peugeot take a slight advantage, but further back, Alessandro Pier Guidi in the #51 Ferrari went around the outside of the #7 Toyota of Kamui Kobayashi at Blanchimont, a move that saw the Toyota drop from third to seventh in just a single corner after locking up into the Bus Stop chicane.

Unfortunately, before long, the #59 United Autosports McLaren of Sébastien Baud found himself in the barrier at Stavelot, after contact with the #10 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin of Eduardo Barrichello. It appeared that Baud in the McLaren caught the grass, and was unable to brake enough for the corner, and sent him into the barrier. He was able to get going again after some help from a telehandler, but Barrichello in the #10 Aston Martin had a rear-left puncture just a lap later, and came into the pits, but stalled in the entry, seeing the #78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus attempt to squeeze through to enter the pits. The Aston Martin was given a ten-second penalty for the incident.

When the racing resumed, the #51 Ferrari led the sister #50 and #36 Alpine. Spa’s rapid pace changes and dense traffic played havoc with overtaking attempts, and minor contacts became commonplace, notably between the #94 Peugeot of Malthe Jakobsen and the #20 BMW of Robin Frijns made contact at Les Combes, which saw the Peugeot emerge with major suspension damage, and had to limp back to the pits. Moments later, the #50 Ferrari of Antonio Fuoco passed Alessandro Pier Guidi in the #51 entry for the lead of the race, but the #36 Alpine, now driven by Mick Schumacher, launched a bold move to regain control of the race, temporarily taking the lead before his final pit stop. This move from Schumacher saw Pier Guidi drop from second position to fourth after the #20 BMW of Robin Frijns also made his way through the field.

Not long after, Pier Guidi made his way back through on the Alpine and BMW, but made the move off-track up Eau Rouge, so would be required to hand the positions back. A three-wide moment between Kelvin van der Linde, Dennis Olsen and Ben Barker in the #46, #88 and #77 LMGT3 cars respectively saw the #77 Ford Mustang forced off the track, which allowed the #78 Lexus of Yuichi Nakayama to get through into sixth position. Around fifteen minutes later, another LMGT3 battle saw Valentin Hasse-Clot, Ben Barker and Nakayama go side-by-side on the Kemmel Straight for fifth position, but this was soon paused by another full course yellow for debris at the Bus Stop chicane.

The final thirty minutes of the race were intense, with energy management becoming crucial to all of the Hypercars, the #36 Alpine of Mick Schumacher came into the pits for his final stop. Ten minutes later, Schumacher managed to pass Nyck de Vries in the #7 Toyota for fourth position, but a full course yellow was deployed shortly after. Once the racing resumed, de Vries managed to retake the position from Schumacher, but forced the Alpine off track at Blanchimont, and eventually de Vries ceded the position to the Alpine.

With just a lap of the race to go, the #50 Ferrari was seen with just two-percent virtual energy remaining, which was not enough to get through the final lap and cross the line. Despite the late threat from the #50, it was eventually the #51 Ferrari of James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi and Alessandro Pier Guidi who crossed the line first, securing a hard-earned win. The #50 with Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen settled for second, while the #36 Alpine of Jules Gounon, Frédéric Makowiecki and Mick Schumacher completed the podium after a race-long presentation of pace and aggression from the French marque, while also securing their second consecutive third-place finish in the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship season.

In the LMGT3 category, the #21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 of François Heriau, Simon Mann and Alessio Rovera clinched victory, just ahead of the #88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 of Stefano Gattuso, Gianmarco Levorato and Dennis Olsen who finished second. Third place fell to the #54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari of Francesco Castellacci, Thomas Flohr and Davide Rigon, while the second Ford Mustang from Proton Competition managed to finish in fourth position after a strong performance for the American muscles. 

HYPERCAR DRIVERS’ & MANUFACTURERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP

With three rounds of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship complete, the ever-dominant Ferrari AF Corse team take their third victory of the season, with the winning #51 crew of Calado, Giovinazzi and Pier Guidi leading the championship with 75 points, while the second place finishing Ferrari of Fuoco, Molina and Nielsen sit second with 57 points. Despite not scoring points at Spa-Francorchamps, the #83 Ferrari crew of Phil Hanson, Robert Kubica and Yifei Ye sit third with 39 points, although the #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing crew of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa are closing in with 37 points. After two back-to-back third-place finishes, the #36 Alpine crew of Gounon, Makowiecki and Schumacher closed the gap to the #8 Toyota with 30 points.

Ferrari continue to dominate the manufacturers’ championship with 136 points, a massive sixty-five points ahead of Toyota with 71 points, and BMW with 64 points. Aston Martin is still the only manufacturer not to score points, but they came so close to a potential top ten result in Spa-Francorchamps before they didn’t have enough virtual energy to finish the race.

LMGT3 DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP

TF Sport’s #33 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 LMGT3 crew of Jonny Edgar, Daniel Juncadella and Ben Keating still lead the LMGT3 championship with 44 points, although their gap to second position has been dramatically reduced to just four points, with the winning #21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari of Heriau, Mann and Rovera sitting in second with 40 points. The #78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus drops to third with 38 points, while the #92 Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche of Ryan Hardwick, Richard Lietz and Riccardo Pera sit in fourth, with the same 31 points for the #54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari. Once again, Iron Lynx failed to score any points at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, and sit at the bottom of the standings.

THE LEGENDARY 24 HOURS OF LE MANS

The anticipation for the 93rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, scheduled for the 14th - 15th June, is reaching full steam. This legendary endurance race, often hailed as one of the greatest motorsport events on the planet, is set to deliver an electrifying spectacle. Sixty-two cars, split into the three categories: Hypercar, LMP2 and LMGT3 will roar around the Circuit de la Sarthe, while Aston Martin will return to the top class at Le Mans with two Valkyrie Hypercars.

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