Ferrari dominates Spa WEC qualifying as Fuoco takes pole

Ferrari’s dominant start to the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship season continued in qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps, as the three AF Corse-run 499Ps ended up setting the three fastest times in Hypercar Hyperpole.

Antonio Fuoco was the fastest of the three Ferrari drivers who took part in the shootout. The Italian made amends for his errors during qualifying in Imola by setting a blinding 1m59.617s to take pole by 0.347s for the No. 50 crew. It was the fastest ever pole lap in the Hypercar era at the circuit, aided by the fact that it has been resurfaced in key places since last year’s event.

“Overall, I think it’s been a positive weekend so far after a difficult one for us in Imola. We are just really happy, and the focus is now on the job tomorrow in the race,” Fuoco said.

Robert Kubica put the No. 83 499P second with a 1m59.964s, while Antonio Giovinazzi steered the championship-leading No. 51 to third.

Outside the top three, Stoffel Vandoorne came closest for Peugeot. In front of his home fans, he completed a 2m00.218s to go fourth in the No. 94 9X8. Alex Lynn completed the top five for Cadillac.

“I think it was a decent qualifying session,” Lynn said. “We dreamt of more as we always do, but P5 on the grid is a solid place to start tomorrow, and we’ve improved the car a lot over the weekend. Both Cadillacs into Hyperpole, which is great for the team, and we’re going to score some heavy points tomorrow.”

The remaining spots in the top 10 were taken by the No. 36 Alpine, No. 93 Peugeot, No. 20 BMW, No. 35 Alpine and No. 38 Cadillac respectively.

It was a tough qualifying for both Toyota and Porsche, as neither factory got a car into Hyperpole. The two 963s from Penske will start 12th and 13th, while the Toyotas could only muster 15th and 16th, only putting them ahead of the two Aston Martin Valkyries, one of which — the No. 007 — went off at Piff-Paff during Harry Tincknell’s run.

“We did our best — both cars with the same lap time,” said Toyota’s team principal/driver Kamui Kobayashi.

The No. 6 Porsche also had an off at the exit of the right-left at Piff-Paff, with Kevin Estre putting a wheel off into the gravel, which ripped chunks of the car’s right-rear bodywork off before the Frenchman’s final push lap.

Finn Gehrsitz claimed a breakthrough pole in the Akkodis ASP Team, Lexus RC F GT3. Julien Delfosse/DPPI

In LMGT3, it was a first FIA WEC pole position for Lexus and AKKODIS ASP, after Finn Gehrsitz stuck the No. 78 RC F LMGT3 at the top of the timing screens to take the pole by 0.276s. His 2m17.732s came with plenty of time remaining on the clock for a response from the other drivers in Hyperpole, but nobody could eclipse it or set a sub-1m18s.

The fight for second on the grid went down to the wire. Ben Tuck looked set to finish with the second-fastest time in the No. 77 Ford Mustang, but Eduardo Barrichello for Racing Spirit of Leman snatched the place at the death with a 2m18.008s in the team’s Aston Martin, pushing the Ford to third.

Giammarco Levorato made it an all-Ford second row with a 2m18.229s, while the No. 54 was placed fifth after the session when a lap deleted for a track limits violation was reinstated. Zach Robichon completed the top six for Heart of Racing ahead of the second Vista AF Corse Ferrari. The Imola-winning Manthey Porsche will start eighth, and the No. 46 WRT BMW and No. 87 ASP Lexus completed the top 10.

Further down the order, it was a tough run for TF Sport’s championship-leading No. 33 Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R. Ben Keating struggled, ending up on the back row and 17th in class with a 2m21.184s. The other TF Sport Vette didn’t make it through either; it will start 11th.

“Unfortunately, the pace has been a little bit off all weekend,” said Daniel Juncadella, co-driver of the No. 33. “We are missing a little bit of pace and running too much in the back in general. Hopefully, in the race we can find a way with strategy and benefit from others’ mistakes. If it’s a very clean race, I feel we will struggle to score (points). That would be the main goal for tomorrow.”

Neither Iron Lynx Mercedes nor United Autosports McLaren made it to Hyperpole either, though it was a welcome sign to see the No. 60 Mercedes make it out after lengthy repairs following its hefty FP2 shunt. It will start last, after Stephen Grove banked a best time 5.9s off Francois Heriau, who topped the first session for Vista AF Corse.

Tomorrow’s 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps will get underway at 2:00pm local time.

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