BMW M Team WRT secured its second victory of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season after prevailing in a tense three-manufacturer fight at the Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo.
Kevin Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello and Dries Vanthoor guided the No. 15 BMW M Hybrid V8 to victory at Interlagos, despite sustained pressure from Ferrari and Cadillac during the closing stages. Vanthoor eventually crossed the line ahead of the No. 51 Ferrari of James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi and Alessandro Pier Guidi. Meanwhile, the pole-sitting No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA crew of Will Stevens, Norman Nato and Alex Lynn recovered from a costly opening pit stop to complete the podium.
Less than seven seconds separated the leading three cars at the chequered flag. Consequently, BMW’s victory tightened the championship battle with four rounds remaining.
Magnussen launches BMW’s victory charge
Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA controlled Saturday’s Hyperpole session and locked out the front row with its two V-Series.R entries. However, Magnussen immediately disrupted Cadillac’s advantage when the race began in front of almost 85,000 spectators.
The former Formula 1 driver placed the No. 15 BMW between the two Cadillacs during the opening phase. Then, on lap 11, he attacked Earl Bamber’s No. 38 entry at Ferradura and claimed second place. Magnussen subsequently chased Stevens in the leading No. 12 Cadillac. Although BMW had started outside the front row, the No. 15 crew quickly established itself as a genuine victory contender through its pace and decisive racecraft.
A wheel nut problem then delayed the No. 12 Cadillac during its first pit stop. As a result, BMW inherited the net lead and controlled the race from that point onwards.
Magnussen praised the speed of the M Hybrid V8 and the execution of the entire BMW M Team WRT operation after finally securing his first FIA WEC victory.
“This has been a long time coming,” reflected Magnussen, a former pole-sitter at Interlagos during his Formula 1 career, to FIAWEC.com. “I’m just so happy to finally get the victory. I think we had the quickest car today, and it was an absolute pleasure to drive. Everything was on-point, from the strategy to the pit-stops and my two team-mates did an amazing job.”
Magnussen and Marciello delivered aggressive stints to strengthen BMW’s position at the front. Then, Vanthoor took responsibility for bringing the car home during the decisive final phase.
Vanthoor resists late Ferrari and Cadillac pressure
Vanthoor completed the final two stints despite feeling unwell throughout the event. Nevertheless, he maintained BMW’s advantage as both Ferrari and Cadillac closed during the final hours.
The No. 51 Ferrari steadily climbed through the field after starting outside the leading positions. Calado, Giovinazzi and Pier Guidi avoided major setbacks, maintained consistent pace and placed themselves within striking distance of BMW.
At the same time, the No. 12 Cadillac recovered from its slow first stop. Stevens, Nato and Lynn regained the time and positions they had lost before returning to the podium fight.
Light rain added further tension late in the contest. However, Vanthoor remained composed and resisted Calado’s pressure to secure BMW’s second win of the campaign. The victory also marked the first time that a car had won the São Paulo FIA WEC round after starting outside the front row. Furthermore, the narrow gap between BMW, Ferrari and Cadillac underlined the increasingly competitive nature of the Hypercar field.
Ferrari equals its strongest result of the season
Ferrari initially lacked the outright track position of Cadillac and BMW. However, the No. 51 crew built its challenge gradually and moved into contention as the race developed. Calado, Giovinazzi and Pier Guidi combined clean execution with consistent pace to take second place. In doing so, the defending world champions equalled their best result of the 2026 season.
Calado applied pressure to Vanthoor during the closing laps but could not find a way past the BMW. Even so, Ferrari collected valuable championship points and demonstrated competitive race pace after Cadillac had dominated qualifying.
The No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari of Phil Hanson, Robert Kubica and Yifei Ye also featured inside the leading group. The Le Mans-winning crew eventually finished fifth and added another solid result to its championship campaign.
However, the factory No. 50 Ferrari endured a more complicated race. Antonio Fuoco’s contact with Robin Frijns later influenced the final classification and produced consequences for the second BMW crew.
Cadillac fights back after early setbacks
Cadillac appeared to hold the strongest hand before the race after Stevens and Bamber secured the front row in Hyperpole. However, pit-stop delays disrupted both V-Series.R entries during the opening cycle. The wheel nut issue dropped the No. 12 car away from the lead. Additionally, contact with Clemens Schmid’s No. 87 LMGT3 Lexus and Hanson’s No. 83 Ferrari complicated its recovery.
The sister No. 38 Cadillac also lost time during its first pit stop. Consequently, both cars dropped outside the top 10 after controlling the opening stages.
Nevertheless, Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA launched a determined fightback. Stevens, Nato and Lynn recovered to third, while Bamber and his team-mates climbed back to fourth. The podium ended Cadillac’s 12-month absence from the FIA WEC top three. The manufacturer last reached the podium when it scored its breakthrough championship victory at the same circuit in 2025.
Although Cadillac missed the win after dominating qualifying, its recovery ensured that three manufacturers shared the São Paulo podium.
Penalty reshapes BMW’s second result
BMW initially placed both M Hybrid V8 entries inside the top six. René Rast, Sheldon van der Linde and Robin Frijns brought the No. 20 car home behind the No. 83 Ferrari. However, race officials penalised Frijns after his collision with Fuoco’s Ferrari. The sanction dropped the No. 20 crew from sixth to eighth in the final classification.
Despite that setback, Rast and Frijns returned to the top of the Drivers’ Championship. They now share the lead with Toyota’s Le Mans-winning trio of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries.
Therefore, BMW left Brazil with both a race victory and a share of the championship lead. Those gains strengthened the marque’s position before the final four rounds.
Toyota struggles while Alpine gamble falls short
Toyota arrived in São Paulo after winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but both TR010 Hybrids struggled for speed around the Autódromo José Carlos Pace.
Conway, Kobayashi and de Vries finished a distant 12th in the No. 7 Toyota. Meanwhile, Sébastien Buemi, Ryō Hirakawa and Brendon Hartley lost more than 10 laps in the pits after the No. 8 car made contact with the No. 17 Genesis. As a result, Toyota failed to score strongly despite retaining a share of the championship lead through the No. 7 crew’s Le Mans success.
Alpine also left São Paulo frustrated after showing potential at the front. Ferdinand Habsburg, Charles Milesi and António Félix da Costa led several phases of the race in the No. 35 A424 as the team pursued an alternative strategy. However, the strategy failed to produce the required result. The No. 35 crew eventually finished 10th and collected only one championship point.
BMW victory sets up four-round title fight
BMW combined outright pace, sharp strategy and consistent execution to convert its early challenge into victory. Magnussen established the car at the front, Marciello maintained its momentum and Vanthoor absorbed intense late pressure to complete the result.
Ferrari’s rise to second and Cadillac’s recovery to third ensured that three manufacturers remained closely matched throughout the closing stages. Moreover, the small gap across the podium highlighted the fine margins that could shape the championship run-in.
The FIA WEC will now begin its annual summer break before returning at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin from 4-6 September.
With BMW, Toyota, Ferrari, Cadillac and the remaining Hypercar manufacturers still fighting for major points, the São Paulo result has created a compelling title contest for the final four rounds.
