the iconic Italian marque’s date with destiny was not to be denied.
In its third year of competition, four victories for the 499P from the opening four races – including a commanding one-two-three in the Qatar 1812km curtain-raiser – immediately set the tone.
Despite enduring a winless second half of the season as its adversaries strove to stem the scarlet tide, when the chequered flag fell at the end of eight hours of action in Bahrain in early November, Ferrari was able to celebrate glory in both the Manufacturers’ and Drivers’ World Championship battles – locking out the top three spots in the latter.
That marked the famous Maranello-based carmaker’s first success in global endurance racing since lifting the laurels in the World Sportscar Championship more than half-a-century ago. The #51 crew of Antonio Giovinazzi, Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado got the better of the two sister cars to clinch the coveted Drivers’ crown – although honours in the 24 Hours of Le Mans went the way of the privately-entered #83 AF Corse entry, thanks in large part to a stellar performance from former grand prix-winner, Robert Kubica.
The twice-round-the-clock La Sarthe contest was also memorable for Cadillac, as Alex Lynn – the series’ standout qualifier of 2025 – made history by claiming the maiden pole position for an American marque at Le Mans since 1967, on the 75th anniversary of the Detroit-based brand’s debut in the legendary race.
Four weeks later, Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA hit the headlines again by speeding to a commanding one-two finish in São Paulo, finally making good upon the promise and potential shown by the V-Series.R all season. Notably, the #12 crew of Lynn, Will Stevens and Norman Nato was the only one in either Hypercar or LMGT3 to score in all eight rounds, which would prove good enough for fifth in the Drivers’ table.
The trio wound up a single point behind Porsche Penske Motorsport pair Kévin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor. Supported in five of the races by Matt Campbell, the Frenchman and Belgian tallied just six points from the opening three outings as their title defence got off to a stuttering start, before Estre’s heroics at Le Mans yielded the runner-up spoils, barely 14 seconds shy of victory.