WEC Season Preview: Mercedes

Credit: Iron Lynx

Mercedes-AMG and Iron Lynx will return to the World Endurance Championship (WEC) for the Silver Arrows second season back at the top of the top flight of endurance racing.

The inaugural season for the Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 didn't get off to the best of starts of the Iron Lynx crew, which had parted ways with Lamborghini the previous year.

They didn't score any points in the first three races in Qatar, Imola and Spa, which included a DNF in Qatar. However, they showed some promise, finishing 11th and 12th in Spa, just outside the points paying positions.

The No.61 began showing some real pace at Le Mans, qualifying fourth in class for the big race, but they ended up finishing 12th.

Their pace fluctuated throughout the season, but it culminated in a second place finish for the No.61 in Bahrain, just seven tenths away from victory. The No.60 did have a tougher season, only scoring a singular point throughout the 2025 season.

This season though, they return with updated driver line-ups and a new colour scheme.

Martin Berry, Rui Andrade and Maxime Martin will be at the wheel of the No.61. Berry and Martin were apart of that squad that took the podium in Bahrain last year, and they'll be joined by former Corvette driver Andrade, who steps in for Lin Hodenius.

Speaking of the 19-year-old Dutchman, he will move over the the newly numbered No.79 car, joined by Johannes Zelger and Matteo Cressoni.

Zelger, hailing from Verona, Italy has experience in Porsche GT3 and Cup machinery across the International GT Open, Bathurst 12 Hours, Gulf 12 Hours and the Asian Le Mans Series (AsLMS). This will be his first venture into the WEC.

Cressoni is an Iron Lynx veteran, racing with the team during the GTE era in a Ferrari and Porsche, and a Lamborghini GT3 in 2024. He also competed the first two races last year with the team in the Mercedes.

Credit: Iron Lynx

The No.79 will sport a striking blue livery, instead of the yellow livery used last year. The No.61 will continue with the predominantly black livery. Both cars have the same neon green design towards the rear, making them an easy spot on track this year.

The sister team to Iron Lynx, the Iron Dames won't be found on the WEC grid this season, in fact they won't be found on any grid this season.

Just a few weeks ago, the founder of the programme - Deborah Mayer - made a statement, saying that Iron Dames will go from “from an elite sport team into a global movement”.

What this means is that there will no longer be an operational racing team, running cars on track. Rather, it will be an organisation that supports individual drivers in their careers in motorsport.

“Iron Dames has become a mindset" she said. "A way of standing in the world, of carrying oneself. A belief that ambition can be bold, that strength is elegant, that discipline is freedom, that every dream matters. And that belief travels further than I ever expected.

"When a young girl tells me, “I feel like an Iron Dame,” I feel immense pride, and an even greater sense of responsibility. A responsibility to keep the flame alive, to open new doors, to widen the path, to build something that lasts.

"Today, Iron Dames is ready to embrace its full dimension. More than a team. A movement. Rooted in performance. Driven by purpose. Alive in society.

“This is our next step. And we are only getting started.”

Some report say there is potential for the Dames to return as a racing team in 2027, however there are no confirmed reports.

This season though, the DC Racing Solutions flag (parent company of the Dames and Lynx) will be flown solely by the Iron Lynx Mercedes, who will be hoping to get their season off to a good start in Imola, and hold their momentum from the Bahrain podium through the season.

You can see both Iron Lynx Mercedes on track for the first time in the official prologue on Tuesday the 14th of April, before the race weekend on the 17th, 18th and 19th.