6 Hours of Spa 2026: Race, BMW #15 wins ahead of Ferrari #51 and Cadillac #12

BMW conquers the second victory in the championship and the top of the drivers’ standings

With a convincing show of strength, the BMW #15 of Magnussen, Vanthoor, and Marciello wins the 6 Hours of São Paulo, the fourth of the eight scheduled rounds of the WEC 2026 championship. The team and drivers delivered a flawless race, characterized by a well-judged strategy and clean driving that kept them clear of contacts and penalties. With this success, the BMW #15 crew rises to fifth place in the drivers’ world championship standings. The BMW #20 of Frijns, Rast, and Van Der Linde finished in a good sixth place, allowing them to take the lead in the drivers’ world championship standings, completing a successful day for the Bavarian manufacturer. Thanks to the valuable points haul from Interlagos, BMW is now second in the manufacturers’ standings with 132 points, just 1 point behind the leading Toyota.

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The Brazilian race was particularly complex to read in its development, characterized by predictable difficult traffic management on the twisty Interlagos track, which severely tested the Hypercar drivers during the continuous lapping phases of the LMGT3 cars. Teams therefore sought differentiated strategies in terms of fuel loaded during the various stops and the number of tires replaced. All this to try to exit the pits as much as possible in clean air and recover positions on race pace. The BMW #15 interpreted the strategy best, holding the lead for a long time.

Ferrari #51 excellent second, #50 and #83 hampered by traffic, contacts, and penalties

The Ferrari #51 of Giovinazzi, Pier Guidi, and Calado finished in second place, just a few seconds behind the winner. Like the winning BMW, they benefited from a perfect race execution and error-free driving, staying clear of penalties that hit harder the Ferrari #50 and especially the #83, which finished only eighth and fifth respectively. And to think that the #51 started from eleventh position, last among the Ferrari 499P cars. Considering that historically the Ferrari 499P had always struggled here due to the track characteristics that poorly suit Maranello’s Hypercar, it must be concluded that Ferrari’s preparation of the car and race execution was excellent, which somewhat increases the regret for the results of the other two Ferraris that could probably have been better and provided more substantial help in the championship standings. In any case, the #51 crew rises to fourth place in the drivers’ world championship standings. Ferrari is third in the manufacturers’ standings with 86 points.

Disappointment for Cadillac and the race of the others

The big disappointment is for Cadillac, which started from the front row and last year had achieved a splendid one-two on this track. In the end, a third place for the #12 and a fourth place for the #38 is all they could manage. A podium is always something to celebrate, but once again Cadillac failed to maximize its potential, especially with the #12, which seemed to have the pace to fight for the win, but too many penalties and incidents it was involved in prevented a better result.

For long stretches of the race, the Alpine cars appeared to be contenders for the win, adopting a differentiated refueling strategy that alternated them with BMW at the top of the standings, but in the end, it did not pay off and they finished a disappointing tenth and eleventh.

Even worse was the performance of Toyota, which arrived in Brazil on the wings of success and a third place obtained at Le Mans. The final haul, so to speak, was twelfth place with the #7 and seventeenth and last place for the #8, which lost several laps in the pits to repair a steering arm following contact with a Genesis. Beyond this certainly penalizing incident, the TR010s appeared to struggle significantly on race pace. Probably the BoP assigned to them was not particularly favorable after the win in France a month ago, but for the Japanese team, it is still a result well below expectations.

Little to say about the anonymous race of Peugeot and Aston Martin, while a note of merit goes again to Genesis, which brought both cars to the finish and at times showed good speed on track, even occupying the first two positions in the standings around mid-race thanks to the pit stop shuffle.

Chronicle of the first two hours of the race

This is the starting grid of the Hypercar class updated after the penalty for impeding in qualifying given to Genesis #19 and Toyota #7, with the names of the drivers who will drive their cars for the first stint specified.

The asphalt of the Brazilian track is wet at the start due to a downpour that soaked the track in the hours before the start. For this reason, the race starts at 16:30 behind the safety car to allow all cars to warm up tires and brakes properly. The rolling start is given three minutes after the six-hour race begins. The two Cadillacs starting from the front row protect each other while behind them the BMW #15 of Magnussen climbs to P3, taking the position from the Alpine #36 of Makowiecki. The Ferrari #50 and #83 move up to P5 and P6.

In the LMGT3 class, the Lexus #87 of Umbrarescu leads, closely followed by the two Ford Mustangs #88 and #77 of Gattuso and Powell. The narrow and twisty Brazilian track proves, as expected, very challenging in managing the lapping of GT cars by the Hypercars. Already in the first lapping phases, the BMW #15 takes advantage of an uncertainty by the Cadillac #38 to steal second position. Five-second penalties are given to Ferrari #83 and Toyota #7 for infractions during the starting procedure. Giovinazzi takes eighth position with a nice overtake on the Genesis #19 at the first corner, while in LMGT3 Gattuso with Ford #88 takes the lead. With 5h and 11 minutes remaining, Giovinazzi overtakes the Peugeot of Duval, moving up to P7. At this moment, the three Ferraris #50, #83, and #51 form a train.
After 1 hour of racing, the first pit stop cycle begins for the Hypercars, initiated by the Cadillacs #38 and #12. For the latter, the pit stop proves very long due to a problem with the front right wheel nut that is difficult to remove.

All cars progressively stop in the pits, some generally opting to replace tires only on the right side, the most stressed on this track. Ferrari #83 serves its 5-second penalty and opts to replace the rear axle tires. To try to recover positions on a track where overtaking is difficult due to traffic, teams opt for different choices in terms of fuel loaded and tires replaced. These are the standings consequently revolutionized after the first pit stop cycle, highlighting the different fuel quantities and pit stop durations:

With 4h and 30 minutes remaining, the Toyotas stop for a new refuel, mixing up the strategy as is traditional for the Japanese manufacturer. A few minutes later, race control issues a drive-through penalty for the Toyota #7, Genesis #19, and Ferrari #50 for infractions under Full Course Yellow.
With 4h and 22 minutes remaining, Alpine #36 stops to refuel again and change driver, while simultaneously Toyota #8 is taken to the garage to try to repair a steering problem reported by Hartley after a hard on-track contact with Genesis #17.

#8 returns to the track with Hirakawa driving, several laps down.

Chronicle of the third and fourth hour of the race

Cadillac #12 of Stevens touches Lexus #87 during a lapping and is forced into a spin costing several seconds but not the position, although the driver complains of a possible fault and returns to the pits to refuel and hand over to Nato. However, Norman is involved in another spin on cold tires during his out lap and is overtaken by #83, which also rejoined the track after a full service pit. Hanson is now at the wheel of the yellow Ferrari.

Meanwhile, the official Ferraris #50 and #51 have also returned for a four-tire change and refuel, with Nielsen and Pier Guidi taking over respectively. Norman Nato recovers and overtakes Ferrari #83 with a somewhat aggressive “door-slam” that seems like payback for the contact a few laps earlier with Hanson. #12 is now in P5 but is penalized 5 seconds to be served at the next pit stop for contact with Lexus #87. In first and second place are the two Alpines, which however have less fuel on board than BMW #15 in third place. Fourth is BMW #20, which is on a similar strategy to the Alpines and is threatened by Cadillac #12, which is furiously recovering and clearly aiming for the podium. Just over a second behind is the yellow Ferrari #83, the first of the 499P cars.
A 30-second penalty is given to Peugeot #94 for speeding in the pit lane.
After almost 3 hours of racing, Alpine #36, #35, and BMW #20 stop in sequence to refuel, leaving the lead to BMW #15 followed by Cadillac #12 and Ferrari #83. The same provisional podium after the second hour of racing. A race increasingly difficult to decipher due to refueling and tire strategies aimed at recovering positions during pit stops. After three hours of racing, these are the standings and remaining energy (VET Virtual Energy Tank) for each car:

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Cadillac #12 and Ferrari #83 stop to refuel and change tires, with Cadillac serving its 5-second penalty. On the next lap, Ferrari #51 and the leading BMW #15 stop, refueling and changing tires only on the right side. Alpine #35 returns to the lead continuing its differentiated strategy.

A very important phase for the victory strategy opens. BMW #15 of Marciello is in second place chasing Alpine #35 of Da Costa, the leader, by a few tenths. Behind them, Pier Guidi is also recovering and is only 7 seconds from the leader. Marciello has fresh tires but more fuel than Alpine, which struggles to overtake. It is clear that BMW #15 is losing time and must pass the French car. He tries once at the end of turn 4 but goes beyond track limits and must give the position back to the Portuguese driver.

Meanwhile, Ferrari #83 receives a 10-second penalty for on-track contact. Alpine #35 holds the lead over BMW #15 while behind them and Ferrari #51 in P3, there is a battle between Alpine #20 and Cadillac #12 for fourth place.

With 2h and 11 minutes remaining, Alpine #35 finally returns to refuel and change driver, leaving the lead to BMW #15 of Marciello followed by Ferrari #51 and BMW #20. Marciello, however, has a fuel advantage over his pursuers who will have to stop in the next laps. Threatening clouds begin to appear in the sky and weather forecasts start to predict rain towards the end of the race. Alpine #36 refuels and finally Cadillac #12 has clear track and moves up to third place thanks to BMW #20’s stop. These are the standings and remaining energy in the two categories while the threat of rain becomes increasingly real and the sun is hidden by dark clouds.

Chronicle of the fifth and sixth hour of the race

Ferrari #51 returns to refuel and Calado takes the wheel. Cold tires and cold asphalt play a nasty trick on the English driver who runs slightly wide exiting the pit lane and lightly hits a billboard. A piece of the billboard remains stuck to the car’s nose but apparently this does not cause overheating to the 499P.

Leader Marciello stops to refuel and hand over to Vanthoor, who rejoins third behind Calado with 72% energy and still with the billboard stuck to the car’s nose. Leading is Alpine #35 of Milesi with 55% remaining energy. It is really hard to say who will win, although BMW #15 appears slightly favored. There is a lot of wind on track and the air temperature has dropped to only 15°C and cars must turn on headlights due to the darkness falling on the track because of very low clouds. A few drops of rain begin to fall in the pit lane.

The moment is crucial because the end of the fifth hour approaches and cars must return for the probable last refueling and tire change. In case of rain, the chosen strategies could be seriously compromised.

From the leading group, Alpine #35 returns for a pit stop and Ferrari #51 temporarily takes P1 with 12% energy in the tank, followed 4.5 seconds behind by BMW #15 of Vanthoor with 33%. At the end of the fifth hour, BMW #20 and Ferrari #50 and #51 return to refuel and change tires. BMW #15 remains leader with 18% remaining energy.

Calado returns to the track in sixth position but is overtaken on the finish straight by Alpine #35 of Milesi, who has warmer tires. Ferrari #83, Cadillac #12, and the two Aston Martins also return for their last stops. Cadillac #38 receives another 5-second penalty for on-track contact. With 48 minutes remaining, leader BMW #15 stops for its last pit stop, which includes refueling and changing tires on the right side only, and manages to exit ahead of Alpine #35, which with warm tires attacks like a hawk and manages to overtake the Bavarian car thanks to lapping a Ferrari GT. But beware because Alpine of Milesi has 60% energy and will have to stop for a splash and go before the end of the race. Calado on Ferrari #51 is firmly third, 2.5 seconds behind BMW #15.

Alpine #35 stops with 40 minutes remaining for a quick refuel and to change rear tires and rejoins only in tenth position. At this point, leading is the “usual” BMW #15 chased by Ferrari #51 of Calado less than 5 seconds behind. Third is Cadillac #12.

With 23 minutes remaining, race director officially declares a wet race due to raindrops on track and requires rear lights to be turned on for poor visibility. Ten minutes from the end, BMW #20 tries to force an overtake on Ferrari #50 of Fuoco at Senna’s “esses.” The Italian loses out, spins, and returns in eighth position. The incident is under investigation by race control.

After six hours of racing, BMW #15 deservedly wins while in LMGT3 the victory goes to Corvette #34

These are the final standings in the Hypercar and LMGT3 classes