WEC Bahrain: Ferrari topped Hypercar champion as Toyota wins finale

Toyota scored its first victory of the 2025 World Endurance Championship within the Bahrain 8 Hours finale, whereas Ferrari clinched each drivers’ and producers’ titles within the Hypercar class.

Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway, and Nyck de Vries managed nearly all of the race within the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid, securing a long-awaited victory for the Japanese producer and ending its winless streak courting again to final season’s Bahrain spherical.

Nevertheless, the day and the season belonged to Ferrari, with the #51 499P trio of James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi and Antonio Giovinazzi sealing the drivers’ title with a charging drive to fourth place.

Calado, Pier Guidi and Giovinazzi arrived into the ultimate weekend with a 13-point buffer to the #83 AF Corse Ferrari of Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye and Phil Hanson and an extra eight factors away from the #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 of Laurens Vanthoor and Kevin Estre.

With the #83 Ferrari managing solely fifth and the #6 Porsche failing to even rating factors, the 2023 Le Mans 24 Hours winners comfortably wrapped up their maiden drivers’ title in Hypercar.

Their outcome additionally helped Ferrari clinch its first prototype title at this degree since 1972, aided by the Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen and Antonio Fuoco bagging a wholesome bag of factors in third within the sister #50 entry.

Ferrari did briefly problem Toyota for victory in Bahrain, with Giovinazzi closing inside three tenths of Conway in the midst of the second hour. However this could be as shut as Ferrari would come to snatching the highest spot, with the #7 GR010 pulling away due to its superior tempo and tyre administration.

#7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 – Hybrid: Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck De Vries

Photograph by: AG Photograph – Daniele Paglino

The one time Toyota misplaced the lead was at across the midway level of the race, when Aston Martin’s choice to place new tyres on the #009 Valkyrie LMH earlier than the race automotive restart allowed Alex Riberas to cost to the entrance.

However shortly after the tip of the fourth hour, Aston was handed a drive-through penalty for an FCY infringement, permitting the Japanese producer to retake the highest spot.

At this stage, the #8 Toyota was working forward of the #7 automotive, with Hartley having handed De Vries on the restart within the earlier hour. However the #8 Toyota was hit with a drive-through for overtaking below FCY, giving the #7 crew a transparent run to the entrance.

A final-hour security automotive, attributable to the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 stopping on observe, launched some late jeopardy, however the #7 Toyota held on to take a snug 20s win.

Though the race winner was successfully determined by the fifth hour, the struggle for second place raged on, with crews working various methods late into the race.

Finally, Buemi introduced the #8 Toyota residence in second to finish a 1-2 for the Japanese model, with the #50 Ferrari securing the ultimate podium spot after the Italian model instructed the 2 manufacturing unit crews to swap positions on the ultimate lap.

This allowed the #50 crew to leap to 3rd place within the championship and full a 1-2-3 for the Italian model within the drivers’ standings.

The #51 Ferrari sealed the drivers’ title with fourth place, with Kubica taking fifth in AF Corse’s satellite tv for pc automotive.

The highest LMDh automotive was the #12 Cadillac V-Collection.R, with Alex Lynn, Will Stevens and Norman Nato driving a stable race to complete sixth.

#51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi

Photograph by: Shameem Fahath / Motorsport Community

Aston Martin couldn’t totally recuperate from its mid-race penalty, with Riberas, Marco Sorensen and Roman de Angelis finally ending up seventh within the #009 Valkyrie.

BMW recovered from a poor first half of the race to take eighth, with Rene Rast, Robin Frijns and Sheldon van der Linde hauling the #20 M Hybrid V8 again into the factors.

Peugeot, nevertheless, went within the different course, as a technique choice to pit once more on the finish of the fourth hour – shortly after the primary security automotive restart – price the French producer a shot on the podium.

Mikkel Jensen, Paul di Resta and Jean-Eric Vergne completed ninth in the perfect of the Peugeot 9X8, simply forward of the sister #94 automotive of Malthe Jakobsen, debutant Theo Pourchaire and Loic Duval.

The #93 9X8 ran eleventh within the closing levels, however Jensen – competing in his closing race with Peugeot – barged previous each the #35 Alpine of Charles Milesi and Jakobsen to say ninth.

Porsche’s farewell Hypercar race led to disappointment, as its two manufacturing unit Penske automobiles dropped down the order after switching to medium tyres through the cooler situations within the second half of the race.

#6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor, Matt Campbell

Photograph by: Andreas Beil

Estre and Vanthoor, who had been in rivalry for the drivers’ title, finally completed the race exterior the factors in thirteenth within the #6 963 they shared with Matt Campbell.

The #5 Porsche pushed by Julien Andlauer, Mathieu Jaminet and newcomer Laurin Heinrich ended up simply behind the sister 963 in 14th.

Jenson Button completed his closing skilled race two laps down in sixteenth place after inflicting a collision with the #54 Ferrari 296 GT3 of Thomas Flohr within the fourth hour. The 2009 F1 champion was hit with a 30-second cease/go penalty for the incident, which noticed Flohr ending up within the limitations and the security automotive being deployed for the primary time within the race.

The #38 Cadillac Button shared with Earl Bamber and Sebastien Bourdais had already been working close to the again of the tempo and was delayed additional when Bamber ran off observe and spun at Flip 1 within the penultimate hour.

Porsche clinches back-to-back LMGT3 titles, Lexus wins finale

ASP scored its second LMGT3 victory of the 2025 season in Bahrain, with Jose Maria Lopez, Clemens Schmid and Razvan Umbrarescu taking the highest spot within the #87 Lexus RC F GT3.

The #61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Lin Hodenius, Martin Berry, and Maxime Martin traded locations with the Lexus through the opening half of the race, however Schmid pulled clear after overtaking Hodenius within the fifth hour.

#92 Manthey 1St Phorm Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3: Ryan Hardwick, Riccardo Pera, Richard Lietz

Photograph by: Andreas Beil

The LMGT3 title went to the #92 Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R of Ryan Hardwick, Richard Lietz and Riccardo Pera after the trio pulled off an unbelievable restoration drive from 18th on the grid to complete fourth at school.

Heading into the weekend, the Porsche trio held a 11-point lead over the #21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 of Alessio Rovera, Simon Mann and Francois Heriau. The Ferrari may solely salvage fifth after Mann picked up a 10-second penalty for inflicting with the #33 TF Sport Corvette Z06.GT3 of Jonny Edgar, permitting the Porsche crew to seal the title at the same time as they dropped from second to fourth on the closing restart.

This was the second consecutive LMGT3 title for each Manthey and Porsche, after Joel Sturm, Alex Malykhin and Klaus Bachler received the inaugural title in 2024 with the 911 GT3 R.

The #27 Coronary heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 made the most important features after the security automotive, as Mattia Drudi propelled the automotive he shared with Ian James and Zacharie Robichon as excessive as second.

Drudi even briefly challenged the Lexus for the lead however fell into the clutches of the #61 Mercedes, with Martin repassing the Italian late on to seize second.

This was the primary podium of the season for Mercedes, which hadn’t completed increased than eighth previous to Bahrain.

WEC Bahrain 8 Hours outcomes

Toyota GR010 – Hybrid
237

19.378
9

FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR

Ferrari 499P
237

6.964
8

FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR

Ferrari 499P
237

0.162
8

Ferrari 499P
237

13.225
8

Cadillac Hertz Group JOTA HYPERCAR

Cadillac V-Collection.R
237

0.798
8

Aston Martin THOR Group HYPERCAR

009

Aston Martin Valkyrie
237

23.174
9

BMW M Group WRT HYPERCAR

BMW M Hybrid V8
236

PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR

Peugeot 9X8
236

1.870
8

PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR

Peugeot 9X8
236

2.286
8

Alpine Endurance Group HYPERCAR

Alpine A424
236

1.753
8

Alpine Endurance Group HYPERCAR

Alpine A424
236

0.859
8

PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR

Porsche 963
236

1.971
8

PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR

Porsche 963
236

2.742
8

Aston Martin THOR Group HYPERCAR

007

Aston Martin Valkyrie
236

6.094
7

Cadillac Hertz Group JOTA HYPERCAR

Cadillac V-Collection.R
235

N. Varrone

Porsche 963
235

14.344
7

AKKODIS ASP Group LMGT3

R. Umbrarescu

Lexus RC F GT3
216

IRON LYNX LMGT3

Mercedes AMG GT3
216

0.786
8

Coronary heart of Racing Group LMGT3

Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3
216

1.051
8

Manthey 1st Phorm LMGT3

Porsche 911 GT3 R
216

12.368
8

Vista AF Corse LMGT3

Ferrari 296 GT3
216

2.106
8

Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R
216

6.286
8

The Bend Group WRT LMGT3

BMW M4 GT3
216

5.480
8

Ford Mustang GT3
216

5.704
8

McLaren 720S GT3 Evo
216

0.237
9

Ford Mustang GT3
215

Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R
215

5.056
8

IRON DAMES LMGT3

Porsche 911 GT3 R
215

5.229
9

IRON LYNX LMGT3

A. Gilbert

L. Nicolas Hanafin

Mercedes AMG GT3
215

11.123
9

Racing Spirit of Leman LMGT3

Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3
215

3.986
9

TEAM WRT LMGT3

BMW M4 GT3
215

22.402
9

J. Cottingham

McLaren 720S GT3 Evo
193

BMW M Group WRT HYPERCAR

BMW M Hybrid V8
211

Vista AF Corse LMGT3

Ferrari 296 GT3
90

AKKODIS ASP Group LMGT3

A. Robin

Lexus RC F GT3
50

Images from Bahrain – Race

#51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi