In a 6 Hours of Fuji that totaled seven yellows, luck to steer clear of skirmishes and scattered debris was as important as pace. Among the top four in the Manufacturers Championship, Cadillac, Ferrari and Toyota disappointed their fans with only one car scoring points in the Championship. Ferrari even had to rely on the customer-run 499P car to score a single point.

Cadillac only Hypercar to score points in all seven WEC races

#12 Cadillac V-Series.r in top 10

JOTA V-Series.R, with Lynn, Nato and Stevens, sharing the driving duties, remained the only Hypercar to score points in all seven FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) races.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Fuji Speedway. Both Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R leading the pack.

Cadillac also remained a program-high third in the Manufacturers Championship entering the season finale.

Stevens set the fastest race lap of 1:30.507 seconds early in his opening stint on the 2.835-mile, 12-turn Fuji Speedway circuit in which he led all but one lap during a pit stop transition under a Virtual Safety Car. The #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R led a field-high 67 laps.

What Alex Lynn started with a scintillating lap in the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R to earn the pole he finished with a charge to seventh place in the yellow flag-filled 6 Hours of Fuji.

Lynn, who took over the wheel from Norman Nato with 2 hours, 14 minutes left, climbed from 13th among the 16 Hypercars following a restart into the top 10 and systematically overtook competitors to claim the positive result.

#6 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R — 📷 © Luc Warnotte at Fuji Speedway. #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R

Will Stevens: “It’s frustrating because as a team we deserved way more. I think we had one of the fastest cars today but just honestly unlucky in places. I think at the start of the race we proved that we were, but from there we just had a lot of bad luck, fell in positions and it’s hard to recover when it’s so competitive. I think the team did a very good job this week, the car was strong but sometimes it’s just not your day.” (about his opening stint): “A few things going on with Safety Cars and full course yellows, but I felt like we were able to control the race very well. Then we got a great start and worked well between me and Seb to make sure we kept the lead between us because we knew it was going to be important.”

Norman Nato (about his stint): “My stint was a lot of up and down, especially with the full course yellows and the Virtual Safety Car. Will did a good job of keeping the lead and I jump in the car and we got a full course yellow that put us in a position we shouldn’t have been. And we had another VSC and lost position. You need not only pace but everything to go your way to win this race.”

#38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R 13th

The #38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA, which started second to the sister car for the team’s third 1-2 qualifying effort in the past four races, incurred bodywork damage from contact by a GT and Hypercar on separate occasions during stints by Sebastien Bourdais and Jenson Button. Earl Bamber, who set the qualifying standard, brought home the hybrid racecar in 13th place.

Earl Bamber: “The car was great, great pit stops, awesome speed. But it was just one of those days.”

Sebastien Bourdais (about his stint): “At the beginning I struggled a bit with the balance. It took me a while to get in the groove and find the adjustments inside the car to kind of get it dialed in. Then there was that Safety Car and we put the quali left side tires on the car, and on the restart I really struggled and we lost a couple positions. After that, we seemed to stabilize and in traffic the BMW GT hit us in the rear when we were going through the kinks side by side and then he hit me straight in the rear the next corner and made some significant damage to the rear of the car. After that, it was a big struggle. Lost a lot of rear downforce, and two-third of the stint was not fun. I did what I could.”

Jenson Button (about his stint): “The car is working really well when you’re in clean air, which I didn’t have any. Really difficult until it settled down, and then when I was in clean air it was alright, and we could start picking off people. Disappointing but we’re still in the fight. I had a couple of good battles out there. I actually got hit and had to go off the track to not spin the car around and he didn’t even get a penalty.” Source: Cadillac Racing

Toyota GAZOO Racing frustrated

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing experienced a frustrating home race as its podium challenge was struck by misfortune.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Fuji Speedway. Last pit stop for Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 Hybrid #7.

#7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid 8th

Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries, in their #7 GR010 HYBRID, led midway through the race after an intense charge through the field. An ill-timed safety car proved costly, but they fought back to finish eighth.
After starting from 14th, Mike had a clean opening 45 minutes before Nyck took over the #7 during a virtual safety car period. He moved into the top 10 during an exciting stint, decisively passing the #6 Porsche and #36 Alpine in quick succession to move into ninth.
An accident at the two-hour mark helped the #7 make further progress. Nyck was in pit lane when a virtual safety car was called, minimising time loss and elevating him to third. He brilliantly took second just after half distance and even led the race during the next pit stop window, before a safety car undid all that good work.
Running low on energy, the #7 had to refuel when pit lane was closed which, according to the regulations, required another stop when it re-opened. The gaps across the Hypercar field were erased and the #7, with Kamui at the wheel, fell to 13th.
Kamui began a determined fightback in the fifth hour and quickly battled back into the top 10. A final fuel stop with an hour to go helped him make further progress and he was eighth at the flag.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Fuji Speedway. Mike Conway at the wheel of Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 Hybrid #7.

Kamui Kobayashi (Team Principal and driver, car #7): “This is not what we wanted from our home race. We did our very best but unfortunately the safety car really hurt us. We were fighting at the front until that point. I tried to recover positions after that, and I think eighth was the best we could manage from there. As a team we did everything we could, but it wasn’t enough. We have struggled this week in terms of performance, so we need to learn from this experience. The last race of the season is next, and I want to stand on the podium. I really hope we can win to give us a positive end to this difficult year. We will do our best to achieve that.”
Mike Conway (Driver, car #7): “It was looking good for a while, but our luck ran out when the safety car came at exactly the wrong time. We were looking good and hanging in there at the front. A top-eight and some points is okay but ultimately, we didn’t have enough pace. There were so many TOYOTA GAZOO Racing fans in the grandstand, as well as lots of Toyota employees and partners with their families. It was great to have their support, and we did everything to give them a good result. We’ll come back fighting next year.”
Nyck de Vries (Driver, car #7): “We fought very hard, and we did our best. At one stage we were fighting for the podium, but the timing of the safety car was very unfortunate. That kind of ruined our race. It was a pity, but we fought hard, and it had been an exciting race for us up until then. Who knows what would have been possible because we were holding on well and ready for a big fight to the end.”

#8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid 16th

Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa endured an even more difficult race in their #8 GR010 HYBRID and they took the chequered flag in 16th, two laps behind.
Their troubles began in the opening minutes when, from eighth on the grid, Sébastien was hit by the #35 Alpine. He pitted under full course yellow to change a punctured left rear tyre and dropped to 17th. A further setback followed with a three-minute stop-go penalty for an infringement, which dropped them to 18th, two laps behind.
Meanwhile, the #8 crew was too far behind to make up positions from 16th. Brendon handed over to Ryo for the final two hours.. Ryo completed a clean and uneventful stint to finish 16th.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Fuji Speedway. Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 Hybrid #8.

Sébastien Buemi (Driver, car #8): “It was a very difficult race with no points for us. I suffered a puncture after a few laps due to the contact. We had to do an emergency pit stop and we made a mistake by not taking another stop when the pits opened again, so we got a big penalty. From there it was impossible to get back into the points, so we used the rest of the race to try to learn something for Bahrain. Hopefully we will have a bit more luck there and we can fight at the front.”
Brendon Hartley (Driver, car #8): “It was a tough day in front of our home crowd. We really appreciate their support and we gave it everything, but it was not the result we all wanted. The penalty put us two laps down, so the race was over for us after one-and-a-half hours. I don’t think either car truly had the pace of the leading cars but car #7 looked promising at one stage before they ran into bad luck. Now we need to regroup for Bahrain.”
Ryo Hirakawa (Driver, car #8): “It was a hard race, and a lot of things went against us. We suffered the puncture so early and this cost us any chance of a positive result. We tried to fight back but, being so far behind, it was impossible to get back to the lead lap. It’s such a pity for our home race to end like this, but I really appreciate all the support we had from everyone here this week. The last race of the season is in Bahrain, where we were strong last year. I hope we can get a good result this time too.”

Ferrari customer car in top 10

The Japanese leg, the penultimate round of the 2025 FIA WEC, proved extremely challenging for the Maranello manufacturer’s Hypercars, as expected on the eve of the race.

One point in Manufacturers championship

Ferrari scored a single point in the manufacturers championship at the Fuji 6 Hours thanks to the AF Corse privateer 499P #83 driven by Prancing Horse official driver Yifei Ye, Robert Kubica and Phil Hanson, crossing the line in 10th place.

AF Corse Ferrari 499P #83 — 📷 © Luc Warnotte at Fuji Speedway. AF Corse Ferrari 499P#83

The 2025 Le Mans 24 Hours winners were forced into an uphill battle after an off-track excursion of a rival Hypercar shortly after the opening hour resulted in damage to the right side of the number 83 499P. Several neutralisations caused by incidents allowed the field to regroup enabling #83 499P to end 10th.

Ferrari and #51 P499 remain Championhips leader

The official Ferrari – AF Corse 499Ps end the 6 Hours of Fuji in 11th and 15th place overall, for the crews #50 and 51 respectively of Antonio Fuoco-Miguel Molina-Nicklas Nielsen, and Alessandro Pier Guidi-James Calado-Antonio Giovinazzi.

Nevertheless, Ferrari remain leader in the World Manufacturers’ Championship with 204 points, 39 points clear of Porsche, while Pier Guidi, Calado and Giovinazzi still top the drivers’ standings on 115 points; Ye-Kubica-Hanson lie second on 101, while Fuoco-Molina-Nielsen are fifth on 75 points..

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Fuji Speedway. Both Official Ferrari 499P

Ferrari #50 12th

Starting from 15th on the grid with Nielsen at the wheel, the crews #50 climbed as high as eighth. In an attempt to maximise the potential of the 499Ps available at Fuji, the teammates in #50 – who made only 4 pit stops, in an attempt to make the most of the tyres by reducing stops – battled on, finishing just outside the points.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Fuji Speedway. Ferrari – AF Corse 499P #50

Nicklas Nielsen Ferrari - AF Corse #50 : “We tried to make the most of the potential at our disposal. The race was really tough and we couldn’t aim for a top position. So many interruptions also affected the race, and trying to recover places became impossible. In Bahrain we will definitely have to do better, giving our contribution to Ferrari in the fight for the World Manufacturers’ Championship.”

Ferrari #51 15th

Starting from sixth, Giovinazzi enjoyed a fine start thanks to a strategy devised by the team, enabling #51 to climb as high as third. A drive-through and a stop-and-go – for exceeding the number of track limits – ultimately compromised the race of crew #51.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Fuji Speedway. Ferrari – AF Corse 499P #51

James Calado Ferrari - AF Corse #51: “This was a difficult weekend and we can’t be satisfied with it. We need to turn the page, trying to look ahead positively to the next round, the race in Bahrain, where we will arrive still leading both the World Manufacturers’ Championship and the Drivers’ World Championship. We have a major goal and we will try to achieve it in the final race.” Source: Ferrari.