Aston Martin’s No. 007 Valkyrie tops the timesheets ahead of all three Ferrari 499Ps as Ferrari unexpectedly finds pace at Interlagos
2026 WEC 6 Hours of São Paulo FP1 results – The opening Free Practice session for the fifth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship got underway at 16:00 CEST at the iconic Autódromo José Carlos Pace in São Paulo, Brazil. Teams enjoyed stable weather conditions throughout the 90-minute session, allowing them to complete extensive preparation work ahead of the weekend.
The opening practice took place under predominantly sunny skies, with ambient temperatures of around 24°C and track temperatures reaching 34.6°C. According to the forecast, Friday and Saturday are expected to be the hottest days of the race weekend, while Sunday’s six-hour race should be held in cooler conditions, with temperatures predicted to drop by four to five degrees and cloud cover becoming more prominent.
That means tyre degradation data gathered during the opening sessions should be interpreted with caution, as race-day conditions are likely to differ significantly from those experienced during Friday practice.
2026 WEC 6 Hours of São Paulo FP1: Hypercar session summary
The first 90-minute practice session ran without any significant interruptions, allowing every manufacturer to complete comprehensive testing programmes. Both the Hypercar and LMGT3 classes accumulated substantial mileage, with every Hypercar entry comfortably exceeding 40 laps during the session.
Fastest overall was the No. 007 Aston Martin Valkyrie, which set the benchmark with a lap of 1:25.457. More encouragingly for Ferrari, however, all three Ferrari 499Ps immediately demonstrated considerably stronger pace around Interlagos than they had managed during the previous two editions of the Brazilian event.
The No. 50 Ferrari 499P finished second, just 0.024 seconds behind the Aston Martin after recording a best lap of 1:25.481. The sister No. 51 Ferrari secured third position with a time of 1:25.563, only around one tenth of a second slower than the No. 50 car.
Although Ferrari’s early pace represents an encouraging development at a circuit that has historically exposed the weaknesses of the 499P, it remains far too early to draw firm conclusions. Toyota’s GR010 Hybrid, which currently leads the World Endurance Championship, together with both Cadillac Hypercars, finished outside the top nine during the opening session.
However, with another lengthy Free Practice session still to come on Friday, the competitive order could change significantly before qualifying.
As has been the case throughout the 2026 FIA WEC season, it is also important to remember that meaningful comparisons remain extremely difficult because the FIA and ACO no longer publish the Balance of Performance figures. Without access to the BoP data, it is impossible to determine whether manufacturers such as Toyota or Cadillac have received additional ballast or power restrictions for this event.
LMGT3 FP1: Iron Lynx Mercedes sets the pace
The LMGT3 category also completed its opening practice session, once again producing an extremely competitive field with minimal gaps separating the leading cars.
Fastest in class was the Iron Lynx Mercedes, which recorded a best lap of 1:34.883 to finish at the top of the timesheets.
Second place went to the Corvette entered by Racing Team Turkey by TF, which finished 0.576 seconds behind the Mercedes after setting a lap of 1:35.459.
Completing the provisional top three was the No. 32 BMW entered by Team WRT, which posted a fastest lap of 1:35.595 during the opening 90-minute session.
Teams will return to the track later today for Free Practice 2, which is scheduled to begin at 20:50 CEST, where the competitive picture ahead of qualifying should become considerably clearer.
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