– Finally, it’s starting: the World Endurance Championship (WEC) kicks off the 2026 season a bit late. After the season opener in Qatar was canceled due to the current military conflicts in the area, the start now takes place in Imola. (All information about the race)
Read more VW ID.3 Neo (2026): Back to old virtues with the facelift?
It is possible that manufacturers will train more than usual for qualifying because “Track Position” is of utmost importance in Imola. Overtaking is hardly possible under normal race conditions due to the track characteristics.
On the Tuesday before the race weekend, the official prologue already took place on the track. The times will hardly be comparable since FIA and ACO are keeping the 2026 Balance of Performance (BoP) secret.
How the practice sessions went
2nd Free Practice: Alpine ended Ferrari’s streak of best times. Charles Milesi in the Alpine #35 (da Costa/Milesi/Habsburg) set the fastest lap time of the week so far with 1:30.898 minutes. This was also faster than the two FT2 best times in the past two years, which were 1:31.040 and 1:30.957 minutes. (Result)
It is incredibly close, 14 hypercars were within a one-second window. Second fastest was the Toyota #7 (Conway/Kobayashi/de Vries). Ferrari was again strong with third, fourth, and seventh places, and Peugeot confirmed its previously impressive form with fifth place. Only Cadillac and Genesis did not make it into the top 10.
The LMGT3 best time went to the Heart-of-Racing Aston Martin #23 (Newell/Pauwels/Adam) in 1:42.081 minutes. Here, even 15 vehicles were within a one-second window. Ford remains somewhat the problem child in the category, while Porsche showed improvement.
Read more Max Verstappen: Lambiase would be «stupid» to turn down McLaren job
The session ran without any notable incidents.
1st Free Practice: Ferrari continued right where they left off in the prologue: with a clear triple lead. Robert Kubica drove the fastest time of the session in the AF-Corse Ferrari #83 (Ye/Kubica/Hanson) with 1:31.739 minutes. ()
That was still 0.562 seconds slower than the prologue best time (1:31.177 by Antonio Fuoco), but 0.326 seconds faster than his own FT1 best time in 2024. In 2024, the FT1 best time also came from the yellow Ferrari, then set by Yifei Ye in 1:31.347 minutes.
The two factory cars followed 0.023 and 0.243 seconds behind. The best pursuer was the Cadillac #12 (Stevens/Nato; +0.444) in fourth, followed by the two Peugeot 9X8s. All manufacturers except newcomer Genesis brought at least one car into the top 10.
In LMGT3, the best time went to the TF-Sport Corvette #34 (Dempsey/Yoluc/Eastwood) in 1:42.678 minutes. Here, the prologue best time was beaten by 0.020 seconds. All manufacturers except Ford and Porsche brought vehicles into the top 10.
- 24h NürburgringLivestream 24h Qualifiers Nürburgring: The races with Max Verstappen live!
- Formula 124h winner Bernd Mayländer gives Max Verstappen an important piece of advice
- 24h NürburgringDörr Motorsport brings GT3 McLaren to the start with three DTM legends
- DTMMillion-dollar renovation at Red Bull Ring “fully on schedule” – but there are disturbances
During the session, there were two FCY phases. Once the track had to be cleared of gravel in the Tamburello chicane, the second was called due to an inspection of the bollard in the Variante Alta. The race control had no choice but to restart the session with the warning that the foundation of the bollard was damaged.
Read more Marco Sörensen’s Prologue Crash: New Chassis for Aston Martin in Imola
