First WEC round-Ferrari dream result

Ferrari dominated the first race of the WEC season, taking the top three places and also giving the Ferrari factory team its first WEC win outside of Le Mans.

Photo: Ferrari gallery

The opening race in Qatar was won by last year's 24h LeMans winners - Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen. It was a battle until the last hour, when the non-factory Ferrari #83 with Robert Kubica behind the wheel and the Ferrari #50 driven by Antonio Fuoco were fighting for victory. The #50 car took the lead after the pit stops, it helped that they did not have to change tires, so their pit stop did not last so long. They crossed the finish line first, ahead of the #83 car, and on the podium they were joined by the third Ferrari #51, which secured Pole position on Thursday. They paid for the penalties in the race. The first penalty was driving through the pit lane and then a ten-second penalty for overtaking off the track.

Photo: Fabrizio Boldoni

The Cadillac of the JOTA Sport team will not remember Qatar well, as they threw away their chance of winning when both their cars collided during the virtual safety car. Cadillac called their cars to the pits in time and during the virtual safety car they took the lead with the first car number #38, behind the wheel-Jenson Button and the second car number #12, behind the wheel-Alex Lynn. Lynn was staying too close to Button before the race restarted and Lynn was unable to react in time to Jenson's deceleration, which led to a mutual collision and both cars had to pit immediately.

When it came to the brand new Aston Martin Valkyrie Hypercar of the Heart of Racing team, it was clear that the car still needed some fine-tuning. For example, the door of car #009 opened on its own while driving and then flew away. Car #009 finished in last place, seventeenth, while the second car #007 did not even finish.

Photo: Julien Delfosse

In the LMGT3 category, it was a battle literally to the last lap, with the #33 TF Sport team battling for victory with the #59 United Autosports team. However, TF Sport ultimately defended its victory. The #31 car finished on the podium in third place. 

Photo: Javier Jimenez

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