2025 Qatar 1812 km
| Event information | |
|---|---|
| Round 1 of 8 in the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship | |
 | |
| Date | 28 February 2025 |
| Location | Lusail |
| Venue | Losail International Circuit |
| Duration | 10 hours |
| Results | |
| Laps completed | 318 |
| Distance (km) | 1722.644 |
| Distance (miles) | 1070.401 |
| Hypercar | |
| Pole position | |
| Time | 1:38.359 |
| Team |  Ferrari AF Corse |
| Drivers | Antonio Giovinazzi |
| Winners | |
| Team | Ferrari AF Corse |
| Drivers | Antonio Fuoco Miguel Molina Nicklas Nielsen |
| LMGT3 | |
| Winners | |
| Team |  TF Sport |
| Drivers | Jonny Edgar Daniel Juncadella Ben Keating |
The 2025 Qatar 1812 km (formally known as the 2025 Qatar Airways Qatar 1812 km[1]) was an endurance sportscar racing event held between 26 and 28 February 2025, as the first of eight rounds of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship. It was the second consecutive running of the event.
Background
[edit]The event was announced on 9 June 2023, during the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans weekend. The race was scheduled to cover 1,812 kilometres (1,126 mi) or, if this distance was not achieved, last for a maximum of 10 hours. The figure 1812 references the country's national day.[2] On 14 June 2024, the 2025 season calendar was published, with Qatar once again serving as the championship opener.[3]
Entry list
[edit]The entry list was published on 12 February 2025 and consisted of 36 entries across 2 categories – 18 in both Hypercar and LMGT3.[4] In the Hypercar category, Isotta Fraschini was dropped from the full-season entry list after completing only five rounds in the 2024 season, and Lamborghini also exited the series.[5] In return, Aston Martin entered the competition with the Valkyrie, while Jota Sport moved from a Porsche customer team to running the Cadillac-backed factory effort, fielding two Cadillac V-Series.Rs.[6]
In the LMGT3 category, D'station Racing exited the series and was replaced by Racing Spirit of Léman as the second Aston Martin entrant.[7] Following Lamborghini's full withdrawal from the WEC, Mercedes-AMG will make its series debut, with Iron Lynx fielding two cars.[8] Pure Rxcing will not defend its title, with Iron Dames taking over the second Porsche entry.[9]
Schedule
[edit]| Date | Time (local: AST) | Event |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday, 26 February | 11:30 | Free Practice 1 |
| 16:50 | Free Practice 2 | |
| Thursday, 27 February | 12:00 | Free Practice 3 |
| 17:00 | Qualifying - LMGT3 | |
| 17:20 | Hyperpole - LMGT3 | |
| 17:40 | Qualifying - Hypercar | |
| 18:00 | Hyperpole - Hypercar | |
| Friday, 28 February | 14:00 | Race |
| Source:[10] | ||
Practice
[edit]Three practice sessions are scheduled to be held before the event: two on Wednesday, and one on Thursday. The sessions on Wednesday morning and Wednesday afternoon lasted 90 minutes, and the session on Thursday morning lasted 60 minutes.[10]
Practice 1
[edit]The first practice session started at 11:30 AST on Wednesday. Hypercar was topped by James Calado in the No. 51 Ferrari AF Corse entry, with a lap time of 1:42.123. He was 0.232 seconds quicker than second-placed Sébastien Bourdais in the No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team Jota entry, with Miguel Molina in third in the sister No. 50 Ferrari, 0.253 seconds behind Calado.[11] Ben Barnicoat topped the session in the LMGT3 class, lapping the circuit in 1 minute, 55.623 seconds in the No. 78 Akkodis ASP Team entry. His lap was 0.113 seconds quicker than that of second-placed Daniel Juncadella in the No. 33 TF Sport entry, with Charlie Eastwood in the No. 81 TF Sport entry finishing third, 0.197 seconds behind Barnicoat.[12] The session saw one stoppage, after the No. 009 Aston Martin THOR Team entry stopped on track, with the car unable to restart.[11]
| Class | No. | Entrant | Driver | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hypercar | 51 | Ferrari AF Corse
|
James Calado
|
1:42.123 | |
| LMGT3 | 78 |  Akkodis ASP Team
|
Ben Barnicoat
|
1:55.623 | |
| Source:[13][14] | |||||
- Note: Only the fastest car in each class is shown.
Practice 2
[edit]The second practice session started at 16:50 AST on Wednesday, and saw Alex Lynn topping the timesheets in the Hypercar category in the No. 12 Cadillac, with a lap time of 1:39.601. His lap was 0.305 seconds quicker than that of Antonio Fuoco in the No. 50 Ferrari, with Robin Frijns setting the third-fastest lap, 0.475 seconds behind Lynn.[15] The LMGT3 category was topped by Sean Gelael in the No. 95 United Autosports entry, lapping the circuit in 1 minute, 54.557 seconds. His lap was 0.136 seconds quicker than that of Barnicoat in the No. 78 Lexus, with the No. 87 Lexus of José María López finishing in third, 0.185 seconds behind.[16]
| Class | No. | Entrant | Driver | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hypercar | 12 | Cadillac Hertz Team Jota
|
Alex Lynn
|
1:39.601 | |
| LMGT3 | 95 | United Autosports
|
 Sean Gelael
|
1:54.557 | |
| Source:[17][18] | |||||
- Note: Only the fastest car in each class is shown.
Practice 3
[edit]The third and final practice session started 12:00 AST on Thursday. Fuoco led the session in the Hypercar class in the No. 50 Ferrari, lapping the circuit in 1:39.484. He was 0.081 seconds quicker than second-placed Antonio Giovinazzi in the No. 51 Ferrari, with Robert Kubica making it a Ferrari 1–2–3, finishing in third, 0.406 seconds behind Fuoco.[19] The LMGT3 class saw Gelael top the session in the No. 95 McLaren, with a fastest lap of 1 minute, 54.569 seconds. Finn Gehrsitz was second in the No. 78 Lexus, 0.092 seconds behind. Grégoire Saucy finished third in the No. 59 McLaren, 0.169 seconds behind Gelael.[20]
| Class | No. | Entrant | Driver | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hypercar | 50 | Ferrari AF Corse
|
Antonio Fuoco
|
1:39.484 | |
| LMGT3 | 95 | United Autosports
|
Sean Gelael
|
1:54.569 | |
| Source:[21][22] | |||||
- Note: Only the fastest car in each class is shown.
Qualifying
[edit]Qualifying results
[edit]Pole position winners in each class are marked in bold.
| Pos | Class | No. | Entrant | Qualifying | Hyperpole | Grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hypercar | 51 | Ferrari AF Corse
|
1:38.587 | 1:38.359 | 1 |
| 2 | Hypercar | 15 |  BMW M Team WRT
|
1:39.316 | 1:38.495 | 2 |
| 3 | Hypercar | 50 | Ferrari AF Corse
|
1:38.609 | 1:38.692 | 3 |
| 4 | Hypercar | 12 | Cadillac Hertz Team Jota
|
1:39.115 | 1:38.723 | 4 |
| 5 | Hypercar | 38 | Cadillac Hertz Team Jota
|
1:39.616 | 1:39.036 | 5 |
| 6 | Hypercar | 20 | BMW M Team WRT
|
1:39.236 | 1:39.146 | 6 |
| 7 | Hypercar | 7 |  Toyota Gazoo Racing
|
1:39.720 | 1:39.279 | 7 |
| 8 | Hypercar | 83 | AF Corse
|
1:39.326 | 1:39.299 | 8 |
| 9 | Hypercar | 35 | Alpine Endurance Team
|
1:39.629 | 1:39.506 | 9 |
| 10 | Hypercar | 93 | Peugeot TotalEnergies
|
1:39.926 | 1:39.674 | 10 |
| 11 | Hypercar | 5 | Porsche Penske Motorsport
|
1:39.946 | 11 | |
| 12 | Hypercar | 94 | Peugeot TotalEnergies
|
1:40.032 | 12 | |
| 13 | Hypercar | 6 | Porsche Penske Motorsport
|
1:40.363 | 13 | |
| 14 | Hypercar | 36 | Alpine Endurance Team
|
1:40.364 | 14 | |
| 15 | Hypercar | 99 | Proton Competition
|
1:41.421 | 15 | |
| 16 | Hypercar | 007 | Aston Martin THOR Team
|
1:41.766 | 16 | |
| 17 | Hypercar | 8 | Toyota Gazoo Racing
|
1:46.289 | 17 | |
| 18 | Hypercar | 009 | Aston Martin THOR Team
|
No time | 18 | |
| 19 | LMGT3 | 95 | United Autosports
|
1:54.851 | 1:54.239 | 19 |
| 20 | LMGT3 | 59 | United Autosports
|
1:55.248 | 1:54.478 | 20 |
| 21 | LMGT3 | 78 | Akkodis ASP Team
|
1:54.924 | 1:54.484 | 21 |
| 22 | LMGT3 | 54 | Vista AF Corse
|
1:56.180 | 1:54.594 | 22 |
| 23 | LMGT3 | 21 | Vista AF Corse
|
1:55.482 | 1:54.609 | 23 |
| 24 | LMGT3 | 87 | Akkodis ASP Team
|
1:55.477 | 1:54.658 | 24 |
| 25 | LMGT3 | 27 | Heart of Racing Team
|
1:56.071 | 1:54.755 | 25 |
| 26 | LMGT3 | 46 |  Team WRT
|
1:55.949 | 1:54.989 | 26 |
| 27 | LMGT3 | 81 | TF Sport
|
1:56.248 | 1:55.424 | 27 |
| 28 | LMGT3 | 88 | Proton Competition
|
1:56.368 | 1:55.432 | 28 |
| 29 | LMGT3 | 92 | Manthey 1st Phorm
|
1:56.434 | 29 | |
| 30 | LMGT3 | 10 | Racing Spirit of Léman
|
1:56.618 | 30 | |
| 31 | LMGT3 | 33 | TF Sport
|
1:56.699 | 31 | |
| 32 | LMGT3 | 31 | The Bend Team WRT
|
1:56.869 | 32 | |
| 33 | LMGT3 | 85 | Iron Dames
|
1:57.156 | 33 | |
| 34 | LMGT3 | 77 | Proton Competition
|
1:57.274 | 34 | |
| 35 | LMGT3 | 61 | Iron Lynx
|
1:58.554 | 35 | |
| 36 | LMGT3 | 60 | Iron Lynx
|
1:59.194 | 36 | |
| Source:[23][24] | ||||||
Race
[edit]Race results
[edit]The minimum number of laps for classification (70% of overall winning car's distance) was 222 laps. Class winners are in bold and ‡.
Official recordings
[edit]- Free Practice 3 | 2025 Qatar 1812KM on YouTube
- Qualifying And Hyperpole Sessions | 2025 Qatar 1812KM on YouTube
- Full Race | 2025 Qatar 1812KM on YouTube
References
[edit]- ^ Cavers, Rachel (15 February 2024). "Qatar Airways named as Official Sponsor of the Qatar Airways Qatar 1812 Km". fiawec.com. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
- ^ Kilbey, Stephen (9 June 2023). "Eight-Round 2024 FIA WEC Calendar Released". Dailysportscar. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
- ^ Euwema, Davey (14 June 2024). "Imola Included on Unchanged 2025 WEC Calendar". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
- ^ "WEC - Ready to Race: Revs rise as season speeds into view". Endurance-Info. 12 February 2025. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
- ^ Pruett, Marshall (24 December 2024). "Riley to run Lamborghini GTP program for IMSA endurance rounds". RACER. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
- ^ Kilbey, Stephen (6 August 2024). "Cadillac Reveals Two-Car WEC Effort With Hertz Team JOTA". Dailysportscar. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
- ^ Plümer, Jonas (22 November 2024). "FIA WEC: Racing Spirit of Léman steigt ein". GT-Place.com (in German). Retrieved 12 February 2025.
- ^ Defet, Florian (20 November 2024). "Mercedes débarque dans la catégorie LMGT3 du WEC en 2025". Endurance24 (in French). Retrieved 12 February 2025.
- ^ Goodwin, Graham (3 November 2024). "Iron Dames To Sport New Look In 2025". Dailysportscar. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
- ^ a b "2025 FIA WEC – Qatar 1812 km – Timetable V5" (PDF). FIAWEC Alkamel. Alkamel Systems. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
- ^ a b Dagys, John (26 February 2025). "Calado Quickest in Qatar FP1 for Ferrari". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
- ^ Kilbey, Stephen (26 February 2025). "Ferrari Leads The Way In Opening Qatar Practice". Dailysportscar. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
- ^ "FIA WEC – Qatar 1812 KM Free Practice 1 – Final Classification" (PDF). FIAWEC Alkamel. Alkamel Systems. 26 February 2025. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
- ^ "FIA WEC – Qatar 1812 KM Free Practice 1 – Final Classification by Driver Fastest Lap" (PDF). FIAWEC Alkamel. Alkamel Systems. 26 February 2025. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
- ^ "WEC / Qatar - EL2 : Cadillac prend le meilleur sur Ferrari" [WEC / Qatar - FP2: Cadillac gets the better of Ferrari]. Endurance-Info (in French). 26 February 2025. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
- ^ Klein, Jamie (26 February 2025). "Lynn Puts JOTA Cadillac on Top in Second Practice". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
- ^ "FIA WEC – Qatar 1812 KM Free Practice 2 – Final Classification" (PDF). FIAWEC Alkamel. Alkamel Systems. 26 February 2025. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
- ^ "FIA WEC – Qatar 1812 KM Free Practice 2 – Final Classification by Driver Fastest Lap" (PDF). FIAWEC Alkamel. Alkamel Systems. 26 February 2025. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
- ^ Dagys, John (27 February 2025). "Fuoco Leads Ferrari 1-2-3 in Rain-Impacted Qatar FP3". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
- ^ Kilbey, Stephen (27 February 2025). "Ferrari 1-2-3 In Drizzly Final Practice". Dailysportscar. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
- ^ "FIA WEC – Qatar 1812 KM Free Practice 3 – Final Classification" (PDF). FIAWEC Alkamel. Alkamel Systems. 27 February 2025. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
- ^ "FIA WEC – Qatar 1812 KM Free Practice 3 – Final Classification by Driver Fastest Lap" (PDF). FIAWEC Alkamel. Alkamel Systems. 27 February 2025. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
- ^ "FIA WEC – Qatar 1812 KM Qualifying – Final Classification" (PDF). FIAWEC Alkamel. Alkamel Systems. 27 February 2025. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
- ^ "FIA WEC – Qatar 1812 KM Race – Final Starting Grid" (PDF). FIAWEC Alkamel. Alkamel Systems. 28 February 2025. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
- ^ "FIA WEC – Qatar 1812 KM Race – Final Classification" (PDF). FIAWEC Alkamel. Alkamel Systems. 1 March 2025. Retrieved 4 March 2025.