CADILLAC TAKES CONTROL IN WEC QUALIFYING AT SÃO PAULO
Cadillac once again proved to be the team to beat in qualifying for the 6 Hours of São Paulo, the fourth round of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship. Just like last year, the American manufacturer locked out the front row, with JOTA drivers Will Stevens and Jack Aitken leading the way. Stevens claimed pole position with a lap of 1:23.041, beating his teammate by only 0.048 seconds after Aitken made a small mistake on his final lap.
The fight for pole was very close, with only one tenth of a second covering the top four cars. Alpine also showed strong pace, as Victor Martins qualified third, only 0.067 seconds behind Stevens. BMW’s Dries Vanthoor was fourth, while Charles Milesi placed the second Alpine in fifth. Genesis impressed by taking sixth place with Mathieu Jaminet, giving the new manufacturer one of its best qualifying performances so far.
Ferrari had a mixed session. Antonio Fuoco was the fastest Ferrari driver, putting the #50 499P in seventh place, around three tenths behind the pole time. Robert Kubica also reached Hyperpole with the #83 AF Corse Ferrari and finished tenth. However, championship contender Antonio Giovinazzi missed out on Hyperpole by just 0.059 seconds and qualified eleventh after losing time in traffic during his lap.
Toyota and BMW were the biggest disappointments of the Hypercar qualifying session. Toyota continued to struggle over one lap, with the #8 car qualifying fourteenth and the Le Mans-winning #7 ending up sixteenth. BMW’s #20 car, currently one of the championship contenders, had an even harder session, finishing last in seventeenth place.
In the LMGT3 class, Aston Martin celebrated pole position with The Heart of Racing’s #23 Vantage. Kobe Pauwels set the fastest time, beating Iron Lynx Mercedes driver Lin Hodenius by two tenths of a second. It was Pauwels’ first WEC pole position and another strong result for Aston Martin after its recent success at Le Mans.
Iron Lynx also enjoyed an excellent qualifying session, with its second Mercedes finishing sixth. Lexus claimed third place, while BMW secured fourth. Both BMW WRT cars and both Ford Proton Competition Mustangs reached the top ten, showing good pace ahead of the race.
Porsche had mixed results in LMGT3. The #92 car qualified seventh, while the #91 failed to reach Hyperpole and will start from eleventh. Championship leaders TF Sport also had a difficult session, with the #33 Corvette missing the top ten after carrying extra weight because of the Success Handicap.
Ferrari AF Corse struggled in LMGT3, as neither of its cars reached Hyperpole. The #54 Ferrari qualified thirteenth, while the #21 finished seventeenth. McLaren Garage 59 also had a disappointing session, with its two cars qualifying fourteenth and eighteenth after mistakes and a lack of pace.
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