BMW and Toyota score strong points at Qatar 1812km

WECHyperCar

Mar 3

At the season-opener of the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) in Qatar, the BMW M Hybrid V8 and the Toyota GR010 Hybrid delivered strong performances, making a significant impact in the competition against the world's top manufacturers. Peugeot was the fifth manufacturer to score points in the manufacturer’s championship.

📷© Luc Warnotte at Lusail. BMW M Hybrid V8 #15 fourth and Toyota GR010 Hybrid fifth being the three Ferrari 499P.

BMW M Team WRT hypercar #15 finished in fourth

In qualifying, Dries Vanthoor secured a spot on the front row with a second-place finish in 1:38.495 minutes – a first for the hypercar, missing pole position by just 0.136 seconds. Robin Frijns also made it into the top-ten Hyperpole with the sister car.

During the race, the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 initially fell back, but the team, including Vanthoor, Kevin Magnussen and Raffaele Marciello, fought their way back to the top positions with strong lap times over the ten-hour race, ending fourth behind the three dominating Ferrari 499P.

Dries Vanthoor (BMW M Team WRT, #15 BMW M Hybrid V8, 4th place): “After starting second, fourth place might not be the result we hoped for, but we didn't have a flawless race – including from my side. Without these mistakes, we could probably have fought for third place, even though there was no way past the Ferraris this weekend. They were incredibly fast in every session, making it very difficult to beat them. That was clear from the start. I think we can be satisfied. I believe we can be proud of the progress we've made compared to last year. However, we are not there yet. It's clear that we are not the fastest yet – so we need to keep working hard.”

Both TOYOTA GAZOO Racing in top 6.

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing achieved a hard-fought top-six finish with both cars in the opening round of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) after a dramatic Qatar 1812km race at Lusail International Circuit. TOYOTA GAZOO Racing leaves Qatar third in the manufacturers’ standings and determined to strengthen its title challenge at the next round, the 6 Hours of Imola on 20 April. A serious score in the Manufacturers’ standings

📷© Luc Warnotte at Lusail. #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid.

Starting from 17th respectively, Sébastien Buemi made solid progress and hit the top six late in the second hour. Buemi soon handed over to Brendon Hartley. Soon after, two safety car periods in quick succession provided drama and position changes but the two GR010 HYBRIDs stayed clear of trouble. When racing resumed, Hartley was still sixth.
Consistency, hard driving and smart strategy was paying dividends and Hartley moved up to third as the sun set in Lusail.

Ryo Hirakawa kept up the momentum into the second half of the race, running strongly in fourth whilst closing up to the race leaders thanks to a safety car in the sixth hour. But rivals recovering from issues threatened those positions and, at the next driver change, Brendon Hartley resumed in sixth.
At the final pit stop, Sébastien Buemi moved ahead of Kamui Kobayashi into fifth and the pair safely negotiated the remaining 50 minutes to take the chequered flag together, bringing home 33 World Championship points.

📷© Luc Warnotte at Lusail. #83 privately-entered 499P from AF Corse

Sébastien Buemi (Driver, car #8): “Actually, it was an amazing effort from the team. There were no mistakes, no penalties and a very good strategy. I don’t think we could have managed more than fifth and sixth, so I am very pleased; everyone in the team pushed really hard. Our target at each race is to fight at the front. It wasn’t possible here, but we extracted the maximum out of our package, and we will try to be stronger next time.”

Brendon Hartley (Driver, car #8): “We had a really well executed race and I had a lot of fun out there. My second stint was just like qualifying laps every time. Getting both cars in the top six feels like an achievement after the pace we saw in free practice. Even if we didn’t get to stand on the podium, I am proud of the team effort. Obviously, we are not happy that we didn’t have the pace in the car but hopefully we will be fighting at the front at Imola.”

Ryo Hirakawa (Driver, car #8): “It was not an easy week for us, but I am content with the result. We knew this event was going to be very challenging for us, but we achieved as much as we could. I am very proud of the team. We did a perfect race with no mistakes, no penalties, good pit stops. Everything went smoothly so I don’t think we could do better from that perspective. Now we will keep pushing to get better for the next races.”

📷© Luc Warnotte at Lusail. #7 Toyota GR010 ahead of Ferrari #83 and Porsche #5.

Starting from seventh Mike Conway hit the top six late in the second hour. Kamui Kobayashi took the wheel from Conway, who suffered a high-speed spin prior to his pit stop.
Soon after, two safety car periods, Kamui Kobayashi overtook the #5 Porsche for seventh and then moved up to fourth following incidents for their rivals.

Late in the fourth hour, Kamui overtook his team-mate for third, just before the end of their stints.
Nyck De Vries kept up the momentum into the second half of the race, running strongly in third whilst closing up to the race leaders thanks to a safety car in the sixth hour. At the next driver change, Mike Conway resumed in fourth.
At the final pit stop, Kobayashi lost P5 to sister #8 driven by Sébastien Buemi.

📷© Luc Warnotte at Lusail. #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid.

Kamui Kobayashi (Team Principal and driver, car #7): “Congratulations to Ferrari for their one-two-three. We tried our best, but we couldn’t do more than that. The team did a great job today. Obviously, our car performance was missing a bit here, but we managed the race with no penalties and no real mistakes. We did our best and got the most out of the situation. Unfortunately, we couldn’t fight for the win so we need to learn from this experience and work together to come back in better shape for the next race.”

Mike Conway (Driver, car #7): “To come away from this event with fifth and sixth is maybe more than what we had expected to be honest, so we’ll take it. We always want a bit more out of a race, obviously, but it’s a decent haul of points to start the season considering we were not on top here. It was a bit of a scrappy day for me, so I’m a little disappointed and there are some things to improve for Imola.”

Nyck de Vries (Driver, car #7): “I think overall it is a positive result for the team considering everything. We went into the race aware of the challenge ahead of us because we were struggling a bit all week, but through the race our package came alive a bit more. We stayed out of trouble and put ourselves in a good position. We wanted more but given our pre-race expectations, it has been a decent day.”

Second BMW M Team WRT hypercar (#20) finished in seventh

The #20 Shell BMW M Hybrid V8, driven by Robin Frijns, René Rast, and Sheldon van der Linde, was at one point in third place but finished seventh due to varying strategies.

📷© Luc Warnotte at Lusail. #20 BMW M Hybrid V8

Sheldon van der Linde (BMW M Team WRT, #20 Shell BMW M Hybrid V8, 7th place): “That wasn't bad. We can really be satisfied with the progress we've made in a year. Looking at where we were last year – both cars outside the top-ten – we've made a huge step forward. I think we can really be proud of BMW M Motorsport for giving us a car that we can really race with. The drivability has improved tremendously, and that now allows us to compete with other cars. As a driver, that's a great feeling because you feel that you're also doing a better job.”

Team Peugeot TotalEnergies in top 10

With ten race interruptions (Safety-Car, Virtual Safety-Car, and Full Course Yellow), the 1812 km Qatar 2025 race was eventful on the Losail International Circuit. Team Peugeot TotalEnergies managed these delicate phases well and adapted their strategies to stay in contention and finish in the top 10.

📷© Luc Warnotte at Lusail. #93 Peugeot 9X8

Qualifying in 10th position by Jean-Eric Vergne, the PEUGEOT #93 had a chaotic start, including a drive-through penalty for failing to follow procedures under Full Course Yellow (about 30 seconds lost), before being penalized by an initial Safety-Car, and then rejoining the “lead lap” thanks to a second Safety-Car. Mikkel Jensen then set fast laps – 1min42s646 on the 134th lap – before handing over to Jean-Eric Vergne, who completed a double stint, with the second stint on hard left-side tires and medium right-side tires. Mikkel Jensen took over the wheel of the #93 to finish in 9th place.

Mikkel Jensen (PEUGEOT 9X8 #93)

«I did a first double stint of more than two hours. Between day and night, temperatures dropped, and the track evolved a lot. It was hard to know whether to use hard or medium tires at that point. We chose to run hard on the left and medium on the right. We weren’t the fastest on track, but we stuck with it to stay in the top 10 and on the lead lap. »