The 2025 Qatar 1812Km delivered a historic, milestone result in Hypercar to kick off the FIA WEC’s 13th season.

It was a tour de force for Ferrari. The No. 50 factory crew of Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina led home a 1-2-3 for the Italian marque, finally capturing the first win for either of the two factory cars outside of the Le Mans 24 Hours. It was also the first 1-2-3 overall finish for the brand in the FIA WEC and in a major sports car race since the 1967 Daytona 24 Hours, which it won with a combination of two 330 P4s and a 412P.

Prior to the Prologue test that preceded the opener, the Italian marque’s drivers stressed how eager they were to start winning the shorter WEC races regularly and challenge for the world championship with consistent finishes. Pole position, fastest lap and a formation finish in Round 1 should suffice.

There was chatter in the paddock throughout the WEC’s time in the Gulf region that the 499Ps were head and shoulders above the rest on both single lap and long-run pace. And that indeed proved to be the case once the lights went out on Friday afternoon.

“We have learned from our mistakes,” explained Ferrari AF Corse team manager Batti Pregliasco post-race. “Last year we were not competitive here, and that’s why we decided to test here over the winter. We understood many things, including how to manage the tires, which was a main aspect of this race. There were a lot of changes in compounds (during the 10 hours between the Medium and Hard Michelins) and many cars started on different strategies. I think ours was a good one, though.”

Ferrari also managed the end of the race well. It’s never easy to keep top-level drivers focused on the bigger picture when they are racing teammates for podium positions. But the strategy desks in all three garages found a way to ensure things didn’t get too feisty between Antonio Fuoco, Robert Kubica and Alessandro Pier Guidi, who were entrusted to bring the cars home.

“It’s important to be reliable now the regulations state you score Manufacturers’ points with two cars (rather than the highest finishing car) means we need to do well with both cars each race,” Pregliasco added. “At the end, we had three cars, one didn’t count for manufacturers’ points, so it was intelligent to leave them open until 10 minutes before the end and then freeze them to avoid making mistakes.”

Ferrari’s dominance was amplified last night by rough outings for the two other brands that appeared to be in the mix for top-three finishes. Both Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA in its first race with the V-Series.R platform and BMW M Team WRT, had the pace but failed to make an impact after a combination of incidents and penalties set them back.

Meanwhile, for the other traditional heavy hitters in the class, it was a forgettable day. Porsche Penske Motorsport, 12 months on from the 963’s stunning 1-2-3 in the inaugural running of the WEC race at Qatar, lacked raw speed. As an example, the three 499Ps and the No. 15 BMW all set lap times in the race below 1m 42s. The best laps from the PPM 963s? A 1:42.6 from Michael Christensen in the No. 5 and a 1m 43.8s from Kevin Estre in the No. 6.

The reigning manufacturers’ champion, Toyota, struggled for a second year in a row at the Lusail circuit, which regardless of the Balance of Performance, doesn’t play to the GR010 HYBRIDs strengths. A faultless run was required from both its cars to salvage a strong points finish with fifth and sixth. When we look back on the season, how important will that damage limitation run be? It’s a race that offers more points than a standard six-hour event after all.

“It was positive, but the Ferrari was untouchable for us, as was the BMW,” a concerned and downbeat Toyota Gazoo Racing team principal/driver Kamui Kobayashi told RACER. “They were fast and we didn’t expect this performance after practice. We minimised the damage but for Ferrari, it was 1-2-3, huge points for them.”

Will this dominance for Ferrari roll over into its home event in Imola next month? That’s the big question, as it’s still very early days. The 499Ps looked rapid at the famous undulating Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari last year, before a costly error in tyre strategy as the weather changed during the race opened the door for a shock Toyota win. But as we’ve seen in Qatar, a number of factors can lead to a radical shift in the pecking order year-on-year.

Balance of Performance – which teams are not allowed to discuss by regulation – will of course play its part, and this year, there have been a few key changes in the FIA’s methodology. For this season, more lap time data will be factored into the process.

A combination of the 10 best laps for each car and an average of the top 60 per cent of each car’s best laps are taken into account (previously it was 20 per cent), meaning tire wear now essentially comes into play. Data from the previous three events will be considered (excluding Le Mans) too and there will be more transparency between the rule makers and manufacturers than ever before, a decision taken after the eight working group meetings ahead of the season.

The aim, as ever, is to produce closer racing and prevent the costs associated with running a program from spiralling. In practice, does this mean we should assume Ferrari will be pegged back immediately, and the pendulum will swing towards other manufacturers when we go racing again next month?

“We will have to wait and see,” concluded Pregliasco, when asked for his thoughts on the current form for the brand carrying over to Round 2. “Last year in Imola, we learned a lot about strategy and I think our car is good for a track like that.”