WEC News: Calado Quickest for Ferrari in Qatar Practice 1
Ferrari AF Corse topped the first Free Practice session of the 2025 FIA WEC season this afternoon in Qatar, with James Calado setting a 1m42.123s in the #51 Ferrari 499P Hypercar.
WEC Hypercar
2025 FIA World Endurance Championship official sessions began with a 90-minute free practice session in cloudy and cool conditions for Friday’s opening Qatar 1812kms round.
James Calado set the fastest lap of the first session in the No.51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P he shares with Antonio Giovinazzi and Alessandro Pier Guidi. British ace sets the quickest lap of 1m42.123s
That time is 0.267s faster than the new-look No.38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA car driven by Sebastien Bourdais. The legendary French driver stops the clocks with a 1m42.390s best in the gold Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercar
Completing the top three was the No.50 Ferrari AF Corse challenger driven by 2024 Le Mans victors – Nicklas Nielsen, Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina. Spaniard, Molina sets the best time on a 1m42.397s
Brendon Hartley placed fourth for Toyota Gazoo Racing in the No.8 GR010 Hybrid Hypercar as the Kiwi peaked with a. 1m42.466s. Hartley is driving this week in a specially painted helmet by his daughter!
BMW M Team WRT took fifth as Dries Vanthoor posted a best lap on the final tour of the session in the No.15 V8 Hypercar
That time knocked the No.12 Cadillac back to sixth as Will Stevens posts time. The 2023 LMP2 champion shares this car with Norman Nato and Alex Lynn this season
The rest of the top 10 saw reigning champions Laurens Vanthoor and Kevin Estre place seventh with new for 2025 teammate Matt Campbell; No.20 BMW eighth; No.83 AF Corse ninth and No.35 Alpine in 10th position to ensure six manufacturers are represented in the Top 10 places
The Aston Martin THOR team ended the session 17th and 18th with the No.009 stopping on track earlier in the session with an unspecified problem
WEC LMGT3
Akkodis ASP head the first LMGT3 session of the new season as new recruit Ben Barnicoat set the category pace with a lap of 1m55.623s
That effort by Barnicoat is just 0.113s ahead of the No.33 TF Sport Corvette as Daniel Juncadella set the best lap in the car he shares with WEC LMGTE Am champion Ben Keating and reigning ELMS champion Johnny Edgar.
TF Sport place was ultra-competitive 2-3 in the session as the No.81 car of Rui Andrade, Charlie Eastwood and Tom van Roumpuy sits third. Eastwood accomplishes the time of 1m55.820s
BMW started the season off strongly as the No.31 The Bend Team WRT entry is fourth with Augusto Farfus stops the clocks on 1m55.940s
Fifth was the second of the Akkodis ASP Lexus entries as WEC champion and Le Mans winner Jose-Maria Lopez achieves a time of 1m56.016s
Completing the top six is the new for 2025 No.10 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin with Valentin Haase Clot at the wheel. He shares the cockpit with Derek Deboer and Eduardo Barrichello, son of former Ferrari and Williams F1 driver Rubens Barrichello.
The new Iron Lynx Mercedes did not take part in the session as they continue to prepare for their first ever WEC campaign with a pair of Mercedes AMG LMGT3 cars this season.
The second free practice session starts at 16.50 local time this afternoon