Brendon Hartley and his TOYOTA GAZOO Racing team are looking forward to the start of the 2025 FIA World endurance Championship, starting on Friday 28 February in Qatar.
A crew of World Champion drivers will use their skill and close cooperation with engineers, mechanics and team partners to drive the team forward following TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s goal of developing people and technology through motorsports.
Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries will compete together for a second year in the #7 GR010 HYBRID, while Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa join forces for the fourth time, aiming for their third drivers’ title together.
“It’s an exciting time and I’ve been looking forward to the start of this season for a while,” commented Hartley. “There are a few unknowns going into Qatar because our competitors will have been working hard over the winter just like us, and there is a new manufacturer to contend with.
“We want to be competitive from the start and that means having a stronger performance in Qatar than last year, when we were not where we wanted to be. We are ready for the challenges we will face, and we respect our competition, but we are going to give it everything this season to come out on top.
Eight races on four continents – including the 93rd Le Mans 24 Hours in June – feature eight manufacturers contesting the 18-strong Hypercar class, including Alpine, newcomers Aston Martin, BMW, Cadillac, Ferrari, Peugeot and Porsche. With the GR010 HYBRID, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing will challenge for its eighth manufacturers’ World Championship as well as its seventh drivers’ crown, and sixth Le Mans victory.
The GR010 HYBRID broke new ground in endurance racing when it was unveiled as the first-ever WEC Hypercar in 2021. Since then, it has undergone various adjustments to enhance reliability and operability, which have combined with team and driver know-how to maintain a record-breaking run of title success.
For 2025, the proven GR010 HYBRID package has undergone no significant changes and will enter its fifth season of competition as a tried and tested competitor. The only visible change to the 2025-specification car is the addition of new mandatory LED panels on the sidepod, which indicate position and pit stop timing to enhance the experience of fans at the track and at home.
Qatar is the first destination on the 2025 calendar, for WEC’s traditional two-day Prologue pre-season test and the 10-hour Qatar 1812km race. In last year’s inaugural event, Nyck earned second on the grid, but a challenging race required a strong team effort to earn valuable points with fifth and eighth place finishes.
Action at the 5.418km Lusail International Circuit begins with seven hours of testing each day on Friday 21 February and Saturday 22 February. Two 90-minute free practice sessions kick off the race week on Wednesday February 26, including one which ends after sunset. The starting grid will be determined in qualifying and Hyperpole on Thursday (5.40pm local, 3.40pm CET) while the race starts at 2pm (midday CET) on Friday 28 February.
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