WEC News: Ferrari Dominates FP3 at Imola with Home-Track 1-2

Ferrari AF Corse turned on the afterburners during the final free practice session ahead of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship’s 6 Hours of Imola, locking out the top two spots in Hypercar and posting the fastest lap time of the entire weekend so far.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Under consistently warm and sunny conditions at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari on Saturday morning, the #50 Ferrari 499P crewed by Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, and Nicklas Nielsen led the way. Fuoco hammered in a stunning 1m30.370s lap — the quickest seen all week — to head the sister #51 Ferrari by 0.323 seconds.

Antonio Giovinazzi’s best effort in the #50 rounded out the car’s impressive showing on home ground, while the Prancing Horse made it three cars inside the top four with Robert Kubica’s #83 AF Corse entry slotting into fourth at 1m30.894s. (Kubica is under investigation for slowing unreasonably at the Rivazza corner while preparing for a flying lap.)

The pace ramped up dramatically in the opening 20 minutes of the 60-minute session, with the top four all beating Friday’s best times before teams switched focus to longer race-stint simulations and new Michelin tire evaluations.

Alpine Endurance Team’s #35 car — which had topped FP2 on Friday — continued to look strong in third, with Charles Milesi matching his earlier pace at 1m30.693s. Toyota Racing’s revised #7 GR010 Hybrid was the best of the Japanese manufacturer’s entries in fifth thanks to Nyck de Vries (1m30.946s), while Cadillac Hertz Team Jota showed improved form with the #12 entry rounding out the top six.

Completing the top ten were the #8 Toyota, #38 Cadillac, #15 BMW M Team WRT, and #94 Peugeot TotalEnergies. The only notable incident in Hypercar came late in the session when Brendon Hartley picked up a puncture in the #8 Toyota, forcing a quick pit stop. He was able to rejoin without losing too much track time.

LMGT3: Heart of Racing Continues Strong Form in Tight Battle

The LMGT3 class delivered another close and constantly shifting session, with the Heart of Racing Team’s #27 Aston Martin Vantage AMR once again setting the benchmark. Local driver Mattia Drudi posted the class’s fastest time of 1m41.973s.

TF Sport’s #33 Corvette came within a whisker of the lead, with Jonny Edgar (standing in alongside Blake McDonald and Nicky Catsburg) firing in a 1m41.998s on a late run — just 0.025s off the Aston Martin. Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG showed encouraging pace in third with Maxime Martin, Rui Andrade, and Martin Berry, while Team WRT’s #68 BMW M4 GT3 (Anthony McIntosh, Parker Thompson, Dan Harper) finished fourth ahead of a tight scrap involving the two Akkodis ASP Lexus entries and the Racing Team Turkey by TF Sport Corvette.

Qualifying for the 6 Hours of Imola gets underway this afternoon at 14:30 local time (CEST), with LMGT3 running first followed by the Hypercar Hyperpole session.

Full official FP3 timing is available on the FIA WEC results page:

With Ferrari flying on home soil and multiple manufacturers showing genuine race pace, the stage is set for a thrilling qualifying battle and what promises to be an intense season-opener tomorrow. The 2026 WEC is officially underway — and Imola is living up to its reputation as one of the calendar’s most exciting venues.