Can Ferrari win on home turf? Five key questions ahead of the Imola WEC race

The Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari plays host to the second round of the World Endurance Championship on 20th April.

Imola joined the WEC calendar for the first time in 2024 and will also stage the Italian round of the championship this year.

Last year’s Imola race was a huge success, with a large crowd coming through the gates to watch Ferrari battle it out for outright victory in Hypercar.

The race also had no shortage of action, with a late shower spicing up the action and reshuffling the order in both Hypercar and LMGT3 classes.

Like 2024, Imola marks the start of the European leg of the campaign, with the next two races scheduled at Spa-Francorchamps and Le Mans in May and June.

With the biggest endurance race of the year only two months away, teams will already have one eye on the grand prize as they prepare for Imola.

Can Ferrari avoid 2024 mistakes and win on home soil?

Ferrari should have scored an easy victory in the inaugural WEC race at Imola last year after locking out the top three positions on the grid in qualifying.

It was leading the race comfortably when the rain hit the track at the two-thirds mark and made the strategic mistake of keeping its cars out on slick rubber.

After finishing no higher than fourth with its trio of 499P LMHs, Ferrari conceded that it had “misjudged” the situation and vowed to improve its change of command.

Twelve months forward, the factory AF Corse squad appears to be in much better shape, having scored yet another victory at Le Mans in 2024 and also dominated this year’s Qatar 1812km event.

And with an increase of 8kg in minimum weight compensated by a 7kW boost in power below 250km/h, Ferrari has to be one of the favourites for the six-hour fixture at Imola.

Can BMW convert scorching qualifying pace into a first race win?

The BMW M Hybrid V8 has proved to be a rocket in the hands of Dries Vanthoor this year, at least in qualifying.

The Belgian took pole position in the opening three rounds of the IMSA SportsCar Championship and also qualified on the front row for the WEC opener in Qatar.

However, in these four races across the WEC and IMSA, BMW has managed just one podium so far, suggesting that the car still lacks the long-run pace to challenge for victories on a regular basis.

Some operational issues and driver errors, such as the nose problem in Daytona, have also held back the Munich-based brand.

That said, a clear upward trend can be seen in BMW’s form since last year’s Fuji WEC race, and it would be naive to rule it out in Imola.

Will BoP changes bring Porsche into play?

Porsche endured a nightmare start to the 2025 WEC season in Qatar, with the German manufacturer coming away with just two points from the 10-hour enduro.

The Porsche 963 LMDh was the joint-heaviest car on the Hypercar grid at the Losail International Circuit, weighing 1064kg, making the race extremely challenging for its two factory Penske crews.

However, Porsche has now been given a Balance of Performance break for the Italian round of the season, with the minimum weight of the car having been reduced by 11kg.

Although the 963 has also been given a 5kW reduction in power, down to just 503kW, the car has also received a 6kW boost above the 250km/h threshold.

All of these changes should make last year’s manufacturer champion a more competitive force at Imola, but it remains to be seen if it will be able to race at the front this weekend.

Porsche scored a double podium at Imola in 2024, behind the winning #7 Toyota, but the 963 is 20kg heavier compared to this time last year.

Will we learn more about Peugeot’s Hypercar programme?

There has been plenty of speculation about how Peugeot will proceed with its LMH programme in the build-up to Imola.

The big update Peugeot introduced at the same round last year, ditching its radical wingless solution for a conventional design, hasn’t proved to be a success. Apart from an inherited podium in last year’s WEC finale in Bahrain, the results of the updated 9X8 have been nothing to write home about.

While Peugeot wants to remain in the WEC for the foreseeable future, its car - which was conceived before LMH regulations were adapted to enable convergence with the LMDh formula - is clearly not competitive enough to fight near the front. The expectation that BoP will bring Peugeot into the mix hasn’t been met either, with the car lacking pace even when its weight has been set to the minimum level under the regulations.

As such, this weekend’s Imola race may provide further answers to what route Peugeot might take next. Whether that involves seeking exemptions/further evo jokers from organisers or building an entirely new car remains to be seen.

How will the LMGT3 battle play out?

The LMGT3 class in the Qatar WEC featured an unlikely fight between Corvette and McLaren for the win, with the TF Sport-run Z06 GT3.R ultimately taking top honours.

Much like in the Hypercar division, Porsche was nowhere to be seen, with the best of the 911 GT3 Rs finishing outside the points in 12th.

While the 2024 season was an all-intra Porsche battle between the two Manthey crews, the results of the Qatar WEC point to a more open-ended battle among all GT3 manufacturers.

A more conventional track like Imola should provide a solid idea about the 2025 formbook.