BMW Snags Second WEC Victory of the Season Ahead of Ferrari in Sao Paulo

BMW recovered from a late-race error to snatch victory from Ferrari at the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo in the World Endurance Championship (WEC), bolstering their Hypercar title chances.

Kevin Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello, and Dries Vanthoor in the #15 BMW led for most of the race. They only lost the lead in the penultimate hour when Vanthoor ran off track, handing the advantage to the #51 Ferrari, driven by James Calado.

Thanks to a larger fuel load, the #15 BMW was able to stay out longer and make a shorter pit stop in the final hour. This allowed Vanthoor, who had complained over the radio about not feeling well, to reclaim the lead.

Ultimately, the Belgian crossed the finish line with a mere 2.2-second lead over the #51 Ferrari, as the widely anticipated rain never arrived. This marked BMW's second victory in the last three races, following the #20 crew's triumph at Spa in May.

At the start of the race, Will Stevens led the pack from pole position in the #12 Cadillac, with Magnussen climbing to second ahead of Earl Bamber's #38 Cadillac. BMW took the lead after both factory Jota cars lost significant time during their initial pit stops, with a stuck wheel nut dropping the #12 Cadillac down the order.

Meanwhile, both Alpine cars emerged as potential threats to the #15 BMW. A decision for a lighter fuel load gave Ferdinand Habsburg and Frédéric Makowiecki an on-track advantage over Magnussen.

However, the #15 BMW continued to close the gap to the #35 Alpine in the subsequent hours, albeit virtually. The other #36 car dropped out of contention after a puncture.

In the fourth hour, Marciello quickly caught Habsburg's teammate, António Félix da Costa, which also allowed third-placed Alessandro Pier Guidi in the #51 Ferrari to close the gap. Marciello couldn't overtake Da Costa on track and only passed him when the Alpine pitted. Pier Guidi capitalized on their battle to get within two seconds behind him.

This proved crucial during the next round of pit stops, when Vanthoor (BMW) and Calado (Ferrari) took over from their teammates. Calado had a tense moment when he understeered exiting the pit lane and brushed the barrier, leaving a piece of advertising banner stuck to the front left of his Ferrari.

He didn't lose much time, however, and when Vanthoor ran off track in the challenging inner section of Interlagos, Calado didn't need a second invitation to overtake the BMW. Nevertheless, the #51 Ferrari pitted exactly one hour before the end of the race, while the #15 BMW had enough fuel to continue for almost 12 more minutes.

This allowed Vanthoor to return to the track as the leader, with a comfortable margin over Calado's Ferrari. Although Charles Milesi overtook Vanthoor on his first lap after the pit stop, the #35 Alpine would either need to stop for more fuel or be extremely aggressive with fuel saving to make it to the finish.

A slow puncture sealed Alpine's fate, and Vanthoor, Magnussen, and Marciello secured their first Hypercar class victory with the #15 BMW. The #51 Ferrari crew of Calado, Pier Guidi, and Antonio Giovinazzi had to settle for second place after an impressive climb from 11th on the grid.

Calado had to conserve fuel in the final stint, which prevented him from challenging Vanthoor for the win. The final podium spot went to the pole-sitting #12 Cadillac crew, driven by Stevens and Norman Nato as a duo.

After the botched pit stop, the #12 car lost more time when Stevens received a 5-second penalty for causing a collision with an LMGT3 class car, and Nato was spun by the #83 Ferrari in the third hour. The #38 Cadillac recovered from its own issues, including a five-second penalty for contact, with Bamber, Sébastien Bourdais, and Jack Aitken finishing fourth.

Jota swapped positions for its two cars 15 minutes from the end to give Aitken a chance to attack the Ferrari for second place, but he returned to fourth after failing to close the gap to Calado.

Fifth place went to the AF Corse satellite team's #83 Ferrari of Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye, and Phil Hanson, after Kubica capitalized on a collision between Robin Frijns and Antonio Fuoco at the exit of the Senna chicane to overtake both cars at once. Frijns, Sheldon van der Linde, and René Rast finished sixth in the #20 BMW, while the #50 Ferrari, shared by Fuoco, Miguel Molina, and Nicklas Nielsen, dropped to eighth after contact left Fuoco facing the wrong way.

With the #50 Ferrari losing ground, Tom Gamble secured seventh place in the better of the two Aston Martin Valkyries, the #007 he shares with Harry Tincknell. The top 10 was rounded out by Alex Riberas and Marco Sørensen's #009 Aston Martin and the #35 Alpine of Milesi, Habsburg, and Da Costa, as the French team's hoped-for yellow flags never materialized.

Less than a month after winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the sixth time, Toyota failed to score any points in the Sao Paulo race. Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway, and Nick de Vries finished a mere 12th in the #7 due to a lack of pace. Two penalties – for a start infringement and a full course yellow (FCY) procedure violation – further compounded their difficulties.

The other Toyota car, the #8 driven by Brendon Hartley, Sébastien Buemi, and Ryo Hirakawa, finished last in class in 17th position after spending 12 laps in the pits for repairs. Hartley was involved in an incident with André Lotterer of the #17 Genesis in the second hour of the race, which caused significant suspension damage to the #8 car.

The race also proved eventful for Hypercar class debutants Genesis. Paul-Loup Chatin, Dani Juncadella, and Matthieu Jaminet finished 13th in the better of the two GMR-001 cars after receiving a drive-through penalty for a full course yellow infringement.