2026 | WEC | 6 Hours of São Paulo | FP1 | Aston Martin pips Ferrari by 0.024s

Harry Tincknell placed the No. 007 Aston Martin Valkyrie at the top of the Hypercar order during the opening Free Practice session for the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) 6 Hours of São Paulo in Brazil.

Tincknell recorded a 1m25.457s lap around Interlagos to beat the No. 50 Ferrari AF Corse 499P by only 0.024s. Ferrari nevertheless delivered an imposing start to the weekend, with its three cars occupying second, third and fourth positions.

Meanwhile, Maxime Martin led LMGT3 for Iron Lynx with a 1m34.883s lap. The Belgian gave the No. 61 Mercedes-AMG a 0.576s advantage over Charlie Eastwood in the No. 34 Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette. Warm and sunny weather accompanied the 90-minute session, with the official classification recording a dry circuit, an air temperature of 24.4°C and a track temperature of 35.6°C.

2026 FIA WEC 6 Hours of São Paulo: FP1: Hypercar

Aston Martin edges Ferrari in close Hypercar fight

Aston Martin took the early initiative through Tincknell, who shares the No. 007 Valkyrie with Tom Gamble. Tincknell set his decisive lap early in his programme and completed 46 laps across the session, giving Aston Martin an encouraging start to the fourth round of the campaign.

However, Ferrari kept the Valkyrie under constant pressure. Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen placed the No. 50 Ferrari second with a 1m25.481s, while only 0.106s separated the leading Aston Martin from the No. 51 Ferrari in third.

James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi and Alessandro Pier Guidi took that position after recording a 1m25.563s. The reigning world champions finished only 0.082s behind the sister factory car, underlining Ferrari’s strength across both works entries.

The yellow No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari completed the manufacturer’s three-car formation at the front. Yifei Ye, Robert Kubica and Phil Hanson finished fourth with a 1m25.596s, only 0.139s away from Tincknell and 0.033s behind the No. 51.

Kubica loses fastest lap as Ferrari targets first Interlagos podium

Kubica had initially moved the No. 83 Ferrari ahead of Tincknell with the fastest lap of the session. However, the stewards deleted his effort for a track-limits infringement approximately one hour into FP1, returning Aston Martin to the top of the classification.

Despite that deletion, Ferrari still started the weekend with all three 499Ps inside the first four positions. The manufacturer will now aim to convert that early pace into a stronger result than it has previously achieved at Interlagos, where it has never finished higher than fifth.

The narrow margins also left little separation between Aston Martin and the Ferrari contingent. Just 0.139s covered the first four cars, while each Ferrari finished within 0.115s of the car immediately ahead.

Alpine heads BMW, Genesis and Peugeot

Behind the leading quartet, Alpine claimed fifth with the No. 36 A424 shared by Frédéric Makowiecki, Jules Gounon and Victor Martins. The French manufacturer recorded a 1m25.700s lap, placing the car 0.243s behind Tincknell and just over a tenth behind the No. 83 Ferrari.

BMW M Team WRT followed in sixth through the No. 20 M Hybrid V8 of Robin Frijns, René Rast and Sheldon van der Linde. Its 1m25.998s left the crew only 0.004s ahead of the No. 19 Genesis Magma Racing GMR-001, which Daniel Juncadella, Mathieu Jaminet and Paul-Loup Chatin placed seventh.

Peugeot took eighth with the No. 94 9X8 of Loïc Duval, Malthe Jakobsen and Théo Pourchaire. The French Hypercar finished only 0.012s behind the No. 19 Genesis, while the second GMR-001 followed another 0.045s back in ninth.

Local favourite Pipo Derani shared that No. 17 Genesis with André Lotterer and Mathys Jaubert. Meanwhile, the No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R completed the top 10 with Will Stevens and Norman Nato. The pair will compete without a third driver this weekend as Alex Lynn continues his recovery from surgery and Louis Delétraz represents the team at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Toyota begins weekend outside the top 10

The second Aston Martin occupied 11th, with the No. 009 Valkyrie of Álex Riberas and Marco Sørensen finishing 0.721s away from the overall benchmark.

Recent 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Toyota followed in 12th with the No. 7 TR010 Hybrid of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries. The No. 38 Cadillac, second Alpine, second BMW and No. 93 Peugeot filled the next four positions.

Toyota’s No. 8 machine completed the Hypercar order in 17th. Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa finished 1.322s behind Tincknell, meaning less than one and a half seconds covered the entire 17-car field.

Race control called only one Full Course Yellow during the session. Officials briefly neutralised the running so marshals could remove debris from the circuit.

Classification

1. No. 007 Aston Martin Thor Team — Harry Tincknell/Tom Gamble — Aston Martin Valkyrie — 1m25.457s — 46 laps
2. No. 50 Ferrari AF Corse — Antonio Fuoco/Miguel Molina/Nicklas Nielsen — Ferrari 499P — +0.024s — 51 laps
3. No. 51 Ferrari AF Corse — Alessandro Pier Guidi/James Calado/Antonio Giovinazzi — Ferrari 499P — +0.106s — 52 laps
4. No. 83 AF Corse — Yifei Ye/Robert Kubica/Phil Hanson — Ferrari 499P — +0.139s — 50 laps
5. No. 36 Alpine Endurance Team — Frédéric Makowiecki/Jules Gounon/Victor Martins — Alpine A424 — +0.243s — 41 laps
6. No. 20 BMW M Team WRT — Robin Frijns/René Rast/Sheldon van der Linde — BMW M Hybrid V8 — +0.541s — 47 laps
7. No. 19 Genesis Magma Racing — Mathieu Jaminet/Paul-Loup Chatin/Daniel Juncadella — Genesis GMR-001 — +0.545s — 46 laps
8. No. 94 Peugeot TotalEnergies — Loïc Duval/Malthe Jakobsen/Théo Pourchaire — Peugeot 9X8 — +0.557s — 50 laps
9. No. 17 Genesis Magma Racing — André Lotterer/Pipo Derani/Mathys Jaubert — Genesis GMR-001 — +0.602s — 49 laps
10. No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA — Will Stevens/Norman Nato — Cadillac V-Series.R — +0.606s — 46 laps
11. No. 009 Aston Martin Thor Team — Álex Riberas/Marco Sørensen — Aston Martin Valkyrie — +0.721s — 54 laps
12. No. 7 Toyota Racing — Mike Conway/Kamui Kobayashi/Nyck de Vries — Toyota TR010 Hybrid — +0.762s — 46 laps
13. No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA — Earl Bamber/Sébastien Bourdais/Jack Aitken — Cadillac V-Series.R — +0.802s — 46 laps
14. No. 35 Alpine Endurance Team — António Félix da Costa/Charles Milesi/Ferdinand Habsburg — Alpine A424 — +0.954s — 43 laps
15. No. 15 BMW M Team WRT — Kevin Magnussen/Raffaele Marciello/Dries Vanthoor — BMW M Hybrid V8 — +0.966s — 53 laps
16. No. 93 Peugeot TotalEnergies — Paul di Resta/Stoffel Vandoorne/Nick Cassidy — Peugeot 9X8 — +1.107s — 54 laps
17. No. 8 Toyota Racing — Sébastien Buemi/Brendon Hartley/Ryō Hirakawa — Toyota TR010 Hybrid — +1.322s — 49 laps

2026 FIA WEC: 6 Hours of São Paulo: FP1: LMGT3

Martin gives Iron Lynx commanding LMGT3 lead

Iron Lynx established a much clearer advantage in LMGT3 as Martin took the No. 61 Mercedes-AMG to the top of the 18-car field. He recorded a 1m34.883s lap in the car he shares with Martin Berry and Rui Andrade, completing 49 laps during the session.

Martin finished 0.576s ahead of Eastwood, who placed the No. 34 Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette second. Eastwood shares the Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R with Patrick Dempsey and Salih Yoluç, and the crew completed 45 laps while setting a best time of 1m35.459s.

Team WRT claimed third with the Brazilian-themed No. 32 BMW M4 LMGT3 Evo. Home driver Augusto Farfus shares the car with Darren Leung and Sean Gelael, and the crew ended FP1 0.713s behind the leading Mercedes.

The BMW finished only 0.052s ahead of the No. 77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang. Eric Powell, Ben Tuck and Sebastian Priaulx placed fourth as Proton sought to begin its championship recovery after a difficult opening part of the season.

Five manufacturers fill the first five LMGT3 positions

VISTA AF Corse added a fifth manufacturer to the top five through its No. 21 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo. François Hériau, Simon Mann and Alessio Rovera recorded a 1m35.727s, leaving them 0.844s behind Iron Lynx and only 0.079s away from the Proton Ford.

The second Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG followed in sixth. Johannes Zelger, Matteo Cressoni and Lin Hodenius finished only 0.025s behind the No. 21 Ferrari, while TF Sport’s No. 33 Corvette trailed them by another 0.017s in seventh.

Small margins continued throughout the middle of the LMGT3 field. The No. 91 Manthey DK Engineering Porsche took eighth, just 0.020s behind the No. 33 Corvette. The No. 78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus then missed eighth by only 0.001s, while the No. 54 VISTA AF Corse Ferrari completed the top 10.

Akkodis ASP’s second Lexus headed the remaining entries in 11th, finishing just one thousandth of a second ahead of the No. 58 Garage 59 McLaren. The Brazil-inspired No. 69 Team WRT BMW took 13th, followed by Proton Competition’s second Ford and The Bend Manthey’s Porsche.

The No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin placed 16th, while the second Garage 59 McLaren and No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin completed the order. The entire LMGT3 field finished within 1.870s of Martin’s benchmark.

Classification

1. No. 61 Iron Lynx — Martin Berry/Rui Andrade/Maxime Martin — Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 — 1m34.883s — 49 laps
2. No. 34 Racing Team Turkey by TF — Patrick Dempsey/Salih Yoluç/Charlie Eastwood — Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R — +0.576s — 45 laps
3. No. 32 Team WRT — Darren Leung/Sean Gelael/Augusto Farfus — BMW M4 LMGT3 Evo — +0.713s — 39 laps
4. No. 77 Proton Competition — Eric Powell/Ben Tuck/Sebastian Priaulx — Ford Mustang LMGT3 — +0.765s — 48 laps
5. No. 21 VISTA AF Corse — François Hériau/Simon Mann/Alessio Rovera — Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo — +0.844s — 32 laps
6. No. 79 Iron Lynx — Johannes Zelger/Matteo Cressoni/Lin Hodenius — Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 — +0.869s — 44 laps
7. No. 33 TF Sport — Ben Keating/Jonny Edgar/Nicolás Varrone — Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R — +0.886s — 44 laps
8. No. 91 Manthey DK Engineering — James Cottingham/Timur Boguslavskiy/Ayhancan Güven — Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3 — +0.906s — 49 laps
9. No. 78 Akkodis ASP Team — Tom Van Rompuy/Hadrien David/Esteban Masson — Lexus RC F LMGT3 — +0.907s — 46 laps
10. No. 54 VISTA AF Corse — Thomas Flohr/Francesco Castellacci/Davide Rigon — Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo — +0.932s — 44 laps
11. No. 87 Akkodis ASP Team — Petru Umbrărescu/Clemens Schmid/José María López — Lexus RC F LMGT3 — +1.026s — 30 laps
12. No. 58 Garage 59 — Alexander West/Finn Gehrsitz/Benjamin Goethe — McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo — +1.027s — 44 laps
13. No. 69 Team WRT — Anthony McIntosh/Parker Thompson/Dan Harper — BMW M4 LMGT3 Evo — +1.101s — 41 laps
14. No. 88 Proton Competition — Stefano Gattuso/Giacomo Levorato/Logan Sargeant — Ford Mustang LMGT3 — +1.207s — 48 laps
15. No. 92 The Bend Manthey — Yasser Shahin/Riccardo Pera/Richard Lietz — Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3 — +1.315s — 52 laps
16. No. 27 Heart of Racing Team — Ian James/Zacharie Robichon/Mattia Drudi — Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 — +1.556s — 46 laps
17. No. 10 Garage 59 — Andrew Au/Tom Fleming/Marvin Kirchhöfer — McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo — +1.711s — 46 laps
18. No. 23 Heart of Racing Team — Gray Newell/Kobe Pauwels/Jonny Adam — Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 — +1.870s — 45 laps