Toyota Gazoo Racing achieved a hard-fought top-six finish for both cars in a dramatic Qatar 1812km race at Lusail International Circuit on Saturday (1 March), the opening round of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship.

It was the first of eight races this season in Toyota Gazoo Racing’s quest to retain their manufacturers’ World Championship, regain the drivers’ title and win again at Le Mans. The team used all their experience to achieve a double points finish with strong teamwork from drivers, engineers and mechanics.

Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa, in the No8 GR010 Hybrid, bounced back from a difficult qualifying to finish fifth. Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries complemented that with sixth in their No7 GR010 Hybrid.

Starting from seventh and 17^th respectively, Conway and Buemi made solid progress and hit the top six late in the second hour. Buemi n soon handed over to Hartley while Kobayashi took the wheel from Conway, who suffered a high-speed spin prior to his pit stop. 

Two safety car periods in quick succession provided drama and position changes but both GR010 Hybrids were able to stay clear of trouble. When racing resumed, Kobayashi overtook the No5 Porsche for seventh, just behind sixth-placed Hartley.

Consistency, hard driving and smart strategy were paying dividends and Hartley moved up to third as the sun set in Lusail, with Kobayashi in fourth following incidents for their rivals. Late in the fourth hour, Kobayashi overtook his team-mate for third, just before the end of their stints.

De Vries and Hirakawa kept up the momentum into the second half of the race, running strongly in third and fourth while closing on the race leaders thanks to a safety car in the sixth hour. But rivals recovering from issues threatened those positions and at the next driver change Conway resumed in fourth with Hartley in sixth.

An intense battle within the top six saw momentum swing at each pit stop as teams employed different tyre strategies. When Kobayashi and Buemi returned to the cockpit with less than two hours remaining, both were fighting hard in the top six.

At the final pit stop, Buemi moved ahead of Kobayashi into fifth and the pair safely negotiated the remaining 50 minutes to take the chequered flag together, bringing home 33 World Championship points on a day when Ferrari finished first, second and third. Toyota Gazooo Racing leave Qatar third in the manufacturers’ standings and determined to strengthen their title challenge at the next round, the 6 Hours of Imola on 20 April.

Team quotes

Kamui Kobayashi (Team Principal and driver, car No7): “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.”

Mike Conway (driver, car No7): “To come away from this event with fifth and sixth is maybe more than we had expected to be honest, so we’ll take it. We always want a bit more out of a race, obviously, but it’s a decent haul of points to start the season considering we were not on top here. It was a bit of a scrappy day for me, so I’m a little disappointed and there are some things to improve for Imola.”

Nyck de Vries (driver, car No7): “I think overall it is a positive result for the team considering everything. We went into the race aware of the challenge ahead of us because we were struggling a bit all week, but through the race our package came alive a bit more. We stayed out of trouble and put ourselves in a good position. We wanted more but given our pre-race expectations, it has been a decent day.”

Sébastien Buemi (driver, car No8): “It was an amazing effort from the team. There were no mistakes, no penalties and a very good strategy. I don’t think we could have managed more than fifth and sixth, so I am very pleased; everyone in the team pushed really hard. Our target at each race is to fight at the front. It wasn’t possible here, but we extracted the maximum out of our package, and we will try to be stronger next time.”

Brendon Hartley (driver, car No8): “We had a well-executed race, I had a lot of fun out there. My second stint was just like qualifying laps every time. Getting both cars in the top six feels like an achievement after the pace we saw in free practice. Even if we didn’t get to stand on the podium, I am proud of the team effort. Obviously, we are not happy that we didn’t have the pace in the car but hopefully we will be fighting at the front at Imola.” 

Ryo Hirakawa (driver, car No8): “It was not an easy week for us, but I am content with the result. We knew this event was going to be very challenging for us, but we achieved as much as we could. I am very proud of the team. We did a perfect race with no mistakes, no penalties, good pit stops. Everything went smoothly so I don’t think we could do better from that perspective. Now we will keep pushing to get better for the next races.”

ENDS