Ferrari take spectacular 1-2-3 in qualifying for WEC at Spa
- Aaron Carroll
- May 9
- 5 min read
Written by Aaron Carroll
Ferrari have taken a 1-2-3 in qualifying led by Antonio Fuoco in the No.50, from the No.83 privateer car and then the No.51 in third with the No.87 Lexus on pole in LMGT3.
Qualifying for the third round of the 2025 WEC (World Endurance Championship) at the 6 Hours of Spa got underway at 2:40pm local time today, with LMGT3 cars taking to the 7km (4.3 mile) circuit first, before the premier Hypercar class had their chance to set the timing sheets alight.
LMGT3 - Qualifying
The bronze drivers came out for the 15 minutes qualifying session, with the focus here not on the top of the timing sheet, but to see who will make the top 10 and get into Hyperpole.
The first set of lap times came in, but none of them were representative. All of the drivers and teams chose to take a second warm-up lap to get the tyres to optimal temperatures.
There was a close moment as the No.88 Proton Ford slowed before the final chicane to find a gap. The fellow No.77 Ford tried to get down the inside, but the No.88 sped up as he did, the two almost colliding before their first flying laps.
After the first flying laps the No.92 Porsche was fastest, but not for long as the No.21 AF Corse Ferrari came by to go just half a tenth quicker. With two minutes to go, the No.81 TF Sport Corvette was the car at risk in tenth, with both the No.31 BMW and No.10 Aston within a tenth of a second.
Deboer in the No.10 went up to eighth, putting the Corvette into the drop zone. With 30 seconds to go there was two Corvettes, two McLarens, two Mercedes, the No.85 Iron Dames Porsche and the No.31 WRT BMW.
Up at the top, the No.21 Ferrari was quickest from the No.92 Porsche and the No.87 Lexus. The three were covered by just 0.053 seconds.
Nobody managed to improve in the final laps, so the No.81 Corvette will start 11th ahead of the No.31 BMW. The No.85 Iron Dames Porsche will start 13th tomorrow, with the No.95 McLaren in 14th, the other United Autosports car one row behind in 16th.
The No.61 Mercedes split them in 15th, with the No.33 Corvette in 17th and the No.60 Iron Lynx Mercedes that had a big crash in FP2 in last.
LMGT3 - Hyperpole
The Hyperpole session is slightly shorter, only 12 minutes. Timing would be crucial in this session with a flying lap taking roughly around two minutes and 20 seconds. Track limits was also of importance, with the stewards policing the exits of both Eau Rouge and Pouhon.
In this session, instead of the bronze drivers from qualifying, the teams are required to send the silver driver out to qualify the car.
In contrast to the previous session, some drivers didn't take a second warm-up lap and some did, so there was a mix of times to begin. The No.88 Ford sat at the top of them. The No.78 Lexus came around to go half a second quicker, with the No.27 Aston Martin and No.54 Ferrari just behind.
The No.87 Lexus was in the pits with three minutes to go, despite not having set a representative lap time. The No.10 Aston Martin of Eduardo Barrichello came around to go second in the dying moments of the session.
But in the end it was the No.78 Lexus on pole, from the No.10 with the No.77 and No.88 Proton Fords in third and fourth. The No.54 Ferrari was fifth, ahead of the No.27 Aston and the No.21 Ferrari. The No.92 was eighth after the being top of Qualifying, ahead of the No.46 Valentino Rossi BMW. The No.87 Lexus was tenth after not setting a lap time.
Hypercar - Qualifying
Both of the Hypercar sessions would run to the same times as the LMGT3 sessions, 15 minutes and then 12 for Hyperpole. The difference however is the teams have free choice of drivers in both sessions.
It was a similar story as in LMGT3 to start the session, with all of the cars taking a second warm-up lap before getting going. Some cars even took another preparation lap after that, with Alex Riberas' engineer in the No.009 Aston Martin advising him not to push on his second lap.
The first cars to set representative laps were the three Ferraris, being split momentarily by Mick Schumacher in the No.36 Alpine, before his lap was deleted for track limits. The No.93 Peugeot of Jean-Eric Vergne took his place in second, under half a tenth behind the No.50 before they improved to increase the gap to three tenths.
With five minutes to go we were still waiting on flying laps from both Astons, both Cadillacs, the No.8 Toyota and the No.36 Alpine. After Hartley in the No.8 set his lap he was out of the top ten, alongside his teammates in the No.7 and the No.5 and No.99 Porsches.
The No.36 would finally set a clean lap, putting the No.6 Porsche in the drop zone too. Earl Bamber in the No.38 Cadillac managed 11th with two minutes to go, as Kevin Estre in the No.6 clipped the gravel and broke the rear wing. This marked the end of the session for the reigning world champions.
Bamber in the Cadillac would improve to ninth, wringing the neck of the car to knock the No.15 BMW down to the drop zone. Both Toyotas pit as the checkered flag came out, finishing 15th and 16th, a disaster for the reigning manufacturers champions.
In the end it was the No.50 Ferrari to lead the session, ahead of the Peugeot and the other two Ferraris.
The No.15 finished 11th, just 0.03 away from Hyperpole. They were followed by the three Porsches in 12th, 13th and 14th - No.6 ahead of No.5 ahead of No.99. Then it was the Toyota pairing ahead of the No.007 and No.009 Aston Martins.
Hypercar - Hyperpole
After a hectic session to determine the top ten, all eyes soon moved to the Hyperpole session to see who would start the race from the head of the field.
On the warm-up laps, Jean-Eric Vergne had a moment at Les Combes but saved it with some opposite lock to keep going on his way. The first lap times were again multiple seconds off of lap times from the previous session as the drivers took the time to get the tyres up to temperature.
The first push laps came from the three Ferraris again, with Antonio Fuoco in the No.50 going quickest with a 1:59.6 - the first driver under the two minute barrier.
Behind those three it was the No.94 Peugeot, No.12 Cadillac, No.36 Alpine, No.93 Peugeot, No.20 BMW, No.35 Alpine and the No.38 Cadillac with no flying lap time set. The three Ferraris slowed on their next lap, taking time to cool the tyres, ready to go again.
None of the drivers could improve on their times, having taken the best out of the tyres on the first push laps. So the top three would be the No.50 Ferrari, from the No.83 and No.51 - a Ferrari 1-2-3.
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