Spa always delivers! At least that is the common saying when it comes to racing on one of the most legendary tracks on this planet. With round 3 of this year’s World Endurance Championship about to start, you could feel that the tension was high all around the track. As the classic clash before Le Mans, the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps is an important yardstick to see who has the ingredients to perform at the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The circuit in the Belgian Ardennes was covered in beautiful sunshine during the whole race week. On race day, a record crowd of over 98.000 fans enjoyed the sun and cheered on their favourite teams and drivers.
In Qualifying, the all-conquering Ferrari 499P locked out the first three positions again, with Antonio Fouco in the #50 Ferrari AF Corse works car, securing pole with a blistering 1:59,617 and the AF Corse #83 in second. In third, the second Ferrari AF Corse #51 completed the Ferrari front lockout. Peugeot and Alpine showed strong pace with both cars in the top 10. Toyota however struggled with yet even more weight and less power than previously in Imola. LMGT3 pole saw a maiden pole for Lexus and Finn Gehrsitz in WEC, with the #10 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin in second, followed by the two Mustangs.
Unconventional for Spa, the race start was very clean in both classes and the three Ferrari 499P in front secured their advantage. Further behind, the Alpine #36 with Fred Makowiecki gained a spot up to fifth. In the mid pack, several cars went up Eau Rouge side by side and tussled all the way up to Les Combes. Under braking, the #51 Ferrari gained a spot up to second, overtaking the privateer AF Corse entry. A spin for the #5 Penske Porsche brought out a brief yellow flag but he was able to continue quickly and chased the Hypercar pack. The GT3 start went on even cleaner. The two Mustangs both overtook the #10 Aston Martin and now chased the leading #78 Akkodis ASP Lexus with Arnold Robin behind the wheel.
For about 15 minutes, everything settled into a rhythm until the first lapping process was about to begin. With all the LMGT3 cars in very close formation, finding a way by was everything but easy for the Hypercar drivers. Fred Makowiecki encountered a little traffic jam in the last corner and judged it to perfection, moving up into fourth, demoting the #94 Peugeot into fifth. Makowiecki was not finished with moving the Alpine #36 further up the grid, sending it down the inside into Turn 1. Now in third, he already set his sights at the two Ferrari AF Corse cars in front. Nevertheless, the crowning act on an amazing stint came with about half an hour done, as he was right at the rear of the #51 Ferrari exiting Turn 1. As they put the power down, the #36 had way better traction and Makowiecki managed to go side-by-side into Eau Rouge, holding his line and securing second spot up the hill. Fired up from such an outstanding overtake, he directly began chasing after the still leading #50 Ferrari. Kevin Magnussen in the #15 BMW M Team WRT did a little bit of high-speed lawn mowing trying to lap some LMGT3 cars on the Kemmel straight. His excursion did not even cost a spot in the classification, just some new pants probably.
As the first hour faded, so did the pace on the #83, losing 3 spots in one lap. On the next lap, Loic Duval pulled off an astonishing outside pass up the hill in Eau Rouge. Shortly after, the #99 Proton Porsche with Nico Pino at the wheel grounded to a hold at Les Combes. After a recycle, he got going again but unfortunately, the car needed to be retired. As the first GT3 pitstops commenced, the battle in the Hypercars continued. The #20 BMW M Team WRT now overtook the further fading #83 AF Corse car before Eau Rouge. With the #20 BMW, the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team Jota also went by the #83 up the Kemmel Straight as the run up the hill for the #83 was compromised. After starting in second, the #83 now faded back to 10th position within the first hour.
The GT3 field formed into clusters of battling cars with moves happening throughout the field. Ryan Hardwick sent it down the inside on the #88 Proton Ford Mustang to move up into second position as well as Celia Martin moving up to 7th on the other Mustang. Another retirement occurred after the #54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari and the #31 Team WRT BMW came together in the final corner. A hit on the front axle of the BMW ended their race in the subsequent Turn 1 gravel. During the subsequent VSC, the #87 Akkodis ASP Lexus ground to a standstill on the Kemmel Straight.
The overall procedure took almost half an hour before the race went back to green flag conditions. With the field bunched up again, battles were imminent. Up Kemmel Straight, both of the TF Sport Corvettes and United Autosport McLarens fought hard. Eau Rouge seemed to be a favourite spot for overtaking this year, as even the GT3 began to tussle there. Corvette #33 got a bad run out of La Source, allowing the #95 McLaren to go alongside and ahead up Eau Rouge. With the loss of speed, FOUR cars swallowed up the #33 by the time they exited Les Combes. Awesome stuff by all the drivers.
As the lapping once again begun after the safety car, the #51 Ferrari tried a move on the #36 Alpine. With a United Autosport McLaren compromising both their entries to Les Combes, the #93 Peugeot took the chance and moved up to third, catching the #51 off guard. Some laps later, the #20 BMW also overtook the #51 round the outside of Les Combes. In GT3, the #85 Iron Dames car with Celia Martin still behind the wheel snatched the lead away from Ian James in the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage with a bit more than half distance to go.
Another outstanding overtake in the Hypercar category, now performed by the #94 Peugeot, saw Loic Duval use the double slipstream up Eau Rouge and Kemmel to perfection. Threading the needle between the #20 BMW and the #51 Ferrari, he gained two spots up to fourth behind the sister car. After the #51 then regained fourth, the hunt was on for third. With the #93 Peugeot making a mistake and dipping a wheel in the grass, Giovinazzi in the #51 used that mistake to get back onto the podium.
Halfway point was close now and more pitstops shuffled the order. With the still in second place driving Alpine pitting a lap earlier than the lead #50 Ferrari, Gounon, who was now in the #36, laid down a superb outlap. As the #50 came out of the pits after their stop, Gounon flew by on warmer tires before Eau Rouge to take the race lead for Alpine.
At the 3-hour marker, the first big crash of the race happened. Sean Gelael in the #95 McLaren got tagged by the #60 Mercedes AMG from Iron Lynx after an unfortunate re-join at Les Combes. The #95 slammed hard into the tire stacks, ending the race on the spot for that car. Thankfully, Gelael got out unhurt. The subsequent safety car brought in almost everyone. Ferrari however had to make a decision here. Both cars came into the pits but in the wrong order concerning their pitboxes. The lead Ferrari slowed down, half on the fast lane and half on the working lane, to let the second Ferrari by without losing the spot to the BMW right behind. Race Control decided to have a further look at this incident and decided that this will be a warning for the team. A bit of luck for Ferrari in that situation.
About two and a half hours left on the clock, as the race got back underway. The #93 did not pit under the safety car and therefore lead the race. Behind the #50 Ferrari gained back the spot it had lost after the pitlane incident to the BMW #20. After a struggling weekend so far for the Toyota cars, the #7 driven by Kobayashi did not stop either and restarted in third place. The tires however could not hold back the charging Ferraris for long, nor the #20 BMW and the #94 Peugeot. In GT3, the battles resumed as well with a group of eight cars scrambled over seventh and downwards. Eduardo Barrichello in the #10 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin Vantage was moving up in a fierce battle with the remaining McLaren. Some laps later, both cars found themselves in another battle – though this time with a not so friendly ending. Coming out of the Fagnes corners, the cars were side-by-side and aiming for the upcoming Campus bend. Just before the braking zone, the #10 closed the gap a bit too much and touched the McLaren’s wheels. As the McLaren was already on the outside, it now hurdled through the gravel and ended up in the tire stacks. Therefore, both McLarens ended the race as a retirement.
On the restart, the #94 Peugeot and the #20 BMW battled up Kemmel. Both slightly missed their braking point for Les Combes and touched. The Peugeot on the inside coming off worse. That touch broke the suspension on the left rear of the Peugeot. In the pitstops under the safety car, the #36 lost the lead and Mick Schumacher, now tasked with getting this lead back. Both Ferraris swapped places at the front to allow the #50 that changed tires to use their pace. The #51 then tried to slow down Schumacher in the #36 but same as Makowiecki in the first stint, he made a decisive move up to P2 on the inside of Stavelot. The following BMW #20 driven by Robin Frijns shortly decided to be a lawnmower at over 250KPH and overtake the Ferrari #51 on the grass. Fired up by this overtake, Frijns then charged to Schumacher as well. While both were busy fighting, Pier Guidi in the #51 pulled of an amazing outside overtake under braking for the bus stop chicane and overtook both cars in front. Relentless fighting on display.
Under very unfortunate circumstances, the #36 lost the chance to fight for the lead, as a slow puncture about one and a half hours before the end lengthened their last two pitstops drastically. Schumacher, then in clean air however, fought hard to gain back the lost ground and burned quick and consistent laptimes in the asphalt.
Just under one hour to go and the lead Ferrari #50 started the last round of pitstops. In GT3, Kelvin van der Linde tried to hold off the charging Mustangs. Going 3 wide into La Source, the #77 was forced into the gravel and lost a spot to the remaining Lexus behind. 10 Minutes later, the #77 reclaimed the spot up Eau Rouge but lost it whilst the #10 Aston Martin got both of these cars after their speed was compromised during the battle up the hill.
Half an hour before the end, Mick Schumacher came in for his final stop, allowing the #51 back into the lead but with a stop to give. In second, also still to pit, there was the #12 Cadillac and in third the #50 Ferrari, which had already served the last stop. After the last stops, both Ferrari works cars lead the #36 Alpine in third. Schumacher tried to hunt down the leading cars but it was just enough for Ferrari to secure a one-two finish in the Belgian Ardennes! That means that the win went way of the #50 Ferrari AF Corse (Fouco/Molina/Nielsen) in front of their sister car #51 Ferrari AF Corse (Giovinazzi/Pier Guidi/Calado), whilst third went to the #36 Alpine (Makowiecki/Gounon/Schumacher). The third win in the third race of 2025 for the Italian outfit. They will be ones to watch for the upcoming 24 Hours of Le Mans, the season highlight. Alpine showed strong pace as well and a win was possible without that slow puncture, so they will also be optimistic for Le Mans, their home race.
In GT3, the victory went to Italy as well. The #21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari (Heriau/Mann/Rovera) won, followed by the #88 Proton Ford (Gattuso/Levorato/Olsen) and the #54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari (Flohr/Castellacci/Rigon) in third. It was not a good race for the championship leading Corvette #33, they will stay in the overall lead but lost a big chunk of their gap. With more one off entries in GT3 coming for Le Mans from the various continental Le Mans Series, the field will be even more competitive as it is right now.
It is safe to say Spa once again delivered an instant classic, a great spectacle to watch from home or live at the racetrack.
Toyota will need to hope for less BOP punishment and try to execute the race as perfectly as they did with the previous races. Porsche needs to try to replicate their mojo from the IMSA competition to have a chance at Le Mans. Now all eyes will turn to France, more precisely Le Mans. The biggest sportscar race of the world will be held on the 14th and 15th of June – the traditional date. Stakes are high and with more cars that are competitive, contending for the win in both classes tension could not be higher. We will eagerly await who takes the chequered flag on the 15th of June on the Circuit de la Sarthe.
