Spa WEC: Ferrari staves off rivals to score another 1-2

Ferrari overcame a mid-race challenge from Alpine to clinch a third successive victory in the 2025 World Endurance Championship in the 6 Hours of Spa.

James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi and Antonio Giovinazzi took the top spot in the factory #51 Ferrari 499P LMH, beating the sister car of Nicklas Nielsen, Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina by over four seconds in another 1-2 for the Italian manufacturer.

Mick Schumacher shadowed Nielsen in a charging final stint, but ultimately had to settle for third position in the #36 Alpine A424 LMDh he shared with Frederic Makowiecki and Jules Gounon.

The #50 Ferrari in the hands of Nielsen led the opening two hours of the race, but an undercut allowed Alpine’s Gounon to seize the advantage in the middle of the third hour.

The Alpine had the pace to run comfortably at the front, but a quicker service from the AF Corse allowed both 499Ps to leapfrog Gounon during a fourth-hour pitstop under FCY.

That effectively turned the race into a battle between the two Ferraris, which swapped positions a number of times in the race.

The #51 Ferrari had jumped ahead of the sister car in the same pitstop under a Full Course Yellow, but Fuoco passed Pier Guidi with an hour and 48 minutes left on the clock to put the #50 car back ahead.

Pier Guidi then lost time battling with the #36 Alpine and the #20 BMW, but was able to repass both cars to retake second position and then jump ahead of the #50 Ferrari

Pier Guidi and Nielsen took diverging directions in the final hours, with Nielsen saving fuel to avoid taking a splash at the end of the race and Pier Guidi pushing to the maximum to build a gap at the front.

Ultimately, the #51 Ferrari’s strategy paid off, with Pier Guidi taking the chequered flag with a comfortable margin despite having to stop for fuel with 12 minutes to go.

Nielsen came under serious pressure from Schumacher in the closing stages of the race, but he held on to second place to complete another 1-2 for Ferrari.

Third place nevertheless marked a second consecutive podium for the #36 Alpine crew, with Schumacher, Gounon and Makowiecki having also finished third in the previous round at Imola.

Toyota rebounded from a tough qualifying session in which it ended up 15th and 16th, with Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa finishing fourth in the #8 GR010 Hybrid LMH.

Cadillac took fifth and sixth with its Jota-run factory cars, with Alex Lynn, Norman Nato and Will Stevens finishing ahead in the #12 V-Series.R ahead of Jenson Button, Sebastien Bourdais and Earl Bamber in the #38 entry.

The #7 Toyota crewed by Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries took seventh ahead of Paul-Loup Chatin, Ferdinand Habsburg and Charles Milesi in the #35 Alpine, which made its final pit stop with just three minutes left on the clock.

Porsche came away from the weekend with just two points, as Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and newcomer Pascal Wehrlein finished ninth in the factory #6 Penske 963 LMDh.

The #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 shared by Kevin Magnussen and Rafaelle Marciello claimed the final championship point in 10th after Marciello was hit with two separate drive-through penalties in the second hour - one for speeding in the pitlane and the other for a full course yellow infringement.

The #20 BMW that fought for a podium for so long returned to the garage in the final hour, likely due to a brake issue reported by Robin Frijns.

A promising day for Peugeot ended in disaster with both its cars dropping outside the contention in the final two hours.

The #93 Peugeot 9X8 ran as high as third in the hands of Paul di Resta, but the French manufacturer elected to keep Jean-Eric Vergne out on track during the fourth-hour full course yellow.

Although this momentarily gave Vergne the lead of the race, he tumbled at the very back of the field after pitting under normal conditions.

Peugeot also didn’t bring Vergne back into the pits for a fuel top-up in the next caution period, prompting the Frenchman to rant about the decision over team radio. Vergne, Mikkel Jensen and Loic Duval just finished outside the points in 11th.

The sister #94 Peugeot driven by Malthe Jakobsen was on course for a top-five finish until contact with the #20 BMW of Robin Frijns in the fifth hour terminally damaged the car.

Ferrari doubles up in LMGT3

Ferrari also took top honours in the LMGT3 class, with Francois Heriau, Simon Mann and Alessio Rovera winning the race in the #21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3.

A shorter fuel stop under the FCY in the final hour allowed Rovera to take the advantage in the #21 Ferrari, having previously trailed the sister #54 car driven by Davide Rigon, Thomas Flohr and Francesco Castellacci.

Dennis Olsen, Giammarco Levorato and Stefano Gattuso finished second in the #88 Proton Ford Mustang GT3, scoring a maiden podium for the Blue Oval in the LMGT3 class this year.

The #54 Ferrari dropped down to third place in the final reckoning.

Spa WEC - Full race results: