Ferrari etched motorsport lore in Lusail, locking out the podium at the 1812 KM of Qatar to kick off the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship. Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, and Nicklas Nielsen stormed to victory in the #50 499P, beating AF Corse’s #83 crew—Yifei Ye, Robert Kubica, Phil Hanson—by a chunk, with Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, and Antonio Giovinazzi nabbing third in the #51. It’s the Prancing Horse’s first top-class 1-2-3 in 53 years.
Fuoco crossed the line after 318 laps, grinning ear-to-ear. “First of all, I want to thank the entire team for the work done over the winter, which allowed us to arrive here in Qatar with great potential to exploit,” he said. “We performed very well in the race, both in tyre management and strategy. What we achieved today, with three Ferraris in the top positions at the end of a World Endurance Championship race, will go down in history.”
The #51 led off the line, but Nielsen’s #50 jumped to second from third, and Ferrari owned the front for 10 hours. “As the race got underway, I immediately managed to take second place – I got off to an excellent start which gave us a confidence boost for a race that turned out to be tricky,” Nielsen said. “The race was very tough, but I think we did everything in the best way possible, reclaiming the top step of the podium after our great Le Mans victory in 2024. We performed well in tyre management and in the choices made by the team, which allowed us to make the most of our 499P.” Molina sealed it: “The most important thing is that we started this season in the best possible way with a fantastic victory. After claiming success at Le Mans last year, we were determined to begin 2025 by showing our potential, because we have a major goal – to chase the world title for Ferrari. Scoring 38 points here in Qatar is undoubtedly ideal as we pursue this dream.”
The #51 crew clawed back from two drive-throughs. “It was not an easy race for us, but in the end, we managed a great comeback, bringing our 499P onto the podium on a hugely important day for Ferrari, which secured a historic one-two-three,” Calado said. “We leave Qatar with valuable points for the world manufacturers’ championship as well as for the drivers’ standings, looking ahead to the next round at Imola with confidence.” Pier Guidi, who bagged the fastest lap at 1’41”259 on lap 141, added, “We maximised the points we could earn as a team for the world manufacturers’ championship. It wasn’t the cleanest race for us, and halfway through, it was hard to imagine finishing on the podium. But we did it, and we should be happy with this third-place finish and the fact that we have started the season much better than in 2024. The most important thing is that Ferrari won, and seeing three cars in the top positions was truly exciting.” Giovinazzi, who nabbed pole, said, “The start of the race was tough and forced us into a huge team effort to regain positions. I want to thank my teammates for what they did today on the track. We leave Qatar happy about this historic one-two-three for Ferrari and for the points gained for the world manufacturers’ championship standings.”
Toyota’s GR010 Hybrids scrapped for fifth and sixth, Sébastien Buemi’s #8 edging Mike Conway’s #7 after a late pit shuffle. Team boss Kamui Kobayashi tipped his cap: “Congratulations to Ferrari for their one-two-three. We tried our best, but we couldn’t do more than that. The team did a great job today. Obviously, our car performance was missing a bit here, but we managed the race with no penalties and no real mistakes. We did our best and got the most out of the situation. Unfortunately, we couldn’t fight for the win so we need to learn from this experience and work together to come back in better shape for the next race.” Starting seventh and 17th, they hit the top six by hour two, danced through safety cars, and banked 33 points—third in the standings.
Ferrari’s haul—66 points—sets the pace. Next stop: Imola, April 20.
