[Fuji 6 Hours] Ferrari finishes in the top 10, with the WEC title race heading into the final race “Maintaining the lead in the rankings”

FIA WEC

The strategy worked well in the early stages, but

The 7th round of the 2025 FIA WEC (World Endurance Championship), the Fuji 6 Hours, was held at Fuji Speedway as a memorial race for the 100th race of the WEC. Ferrari has been performing well this season, leading the Manufacturers’ Championship, and the crew of car number 51 (Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi) is also leading the Drivers’ Championship, but as previously reported, Fuji Speedway is a difficult course that was expected to be a struggle for the Maranello team from the start.

The race began with the #51 Giovinazzi, who was currently leading the rankings, starting in 6th place, the customer team’s #83 car (Robert Kubica, Ye Yifei, Phil Hanson) in 10th place, and the #50 car (Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Niklas Nielsen) in 15th place. There were no upsets like last year in the early stages, and the team strategy proved successful, with #51 at one point in 3rd place and #50 rising to 8th place.

However, after about an hour, things started to look bad as the right side of car number 83 sustained damage due to contact with another car. There was a lot of contact in the hypercar class after that, and crashed cars and the recovery of body parts led to frequent FCY (Full Course Yellow) and VSC (Safety Car) periods, and the difference between luck and misfortune gradually became clearer.

The title will be decided at the 8 Hours of Bahrain

In the end, the highest-placed Ferrari 499P was No. 83, finishing in 10th place. No. 50, despite adopting a strategy of limiting pit stops to four, finished in 11th place, just outside the points. No. 51 also suffered a drive-through and stop-and-go penalty for going off the track, gradually dropping down the ranks and ultimately crossing the finish line in 15th place. In a race where positions changed rapidly, it was No. 35, the Alpine A424, that won. It was a welcome first victory in the hypercar class.

Calado, driving car number 51, vowed to fight back in the final race, saying, “It’s been a difficult weekend and I’m not satisfied. I’ll switch my mindset and head to Bahrain with a positive attitude. I’m still in the lead for both titles and I’ll definitely achieve my goal in the final race.”

Ferrari maintains its lead in the Manufacturers’ Championship with 204 points, 39 points ahead of second place. In the Drivers’ Championship, the crew of car No. 51 maintains their lead with 115 points, ahead of second-place car No. 83 (101 points) and third-place car No. 6 (94 points). The respective titles will be decided in the final race, the Bahrain 8 Hours, to be held on Saturday, November 8th.

PHOTO／Ferrari SpA

Related reading

The Ferrari 499P started from sixth place in qualifying for the 100th WEC race, the “Fuji 6 Hours.”

On September 27, 2025, qualifying for the 7th round of the 2025 FIA WEC (World Endurance Championship), the 6 Hours of Fuji, was held, and the Ferrari 499P factory team, the Ferrari AF Corse No. 51, finished in 6th place.