Ferrari Secures Pole at WEC 2026 Imola, Edging Out Toyota

Antonio Giovinazzi claimed pole for Ferrari at the final qualifying shootout ahead of Sunday’s Imola round. His late lap in the #51 Ferrari 499P put him fastest in the 10-minute Hyperpole session.

Hypercar qualifying

Giovinazzi set a 1:30.127 to move from third to first as the session ended. The margin to the #8 Toyota was just 0.011 seconds.

• #51 Ferrari 499P — Antonio Giovinazzi — 1:30.127
• #8 Toyota TR010 HYBRID — Ryo Hirakawa — 1:30.138
• #50 AF Corse Ferrari — Antonio Fuoco — 1:30.167
• Peugeot 9X8 — Malthe Jakobsen — 1:30.200
• #12 Cadillac/Jota — Norman Nato — 1:30.419
• #7 Toyota — Nyck de Vries — 1:30.432
• #35 Alpine A424 — Charles Milesi — (seventh)
• Ferrari satellite — Robert Kubica — (eighth)
• WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 — Robin Frijns — (ninth)
• WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 — Kevin Magnussen — (tenth)

Session context

The Hyperpole lasted ten minutes after an earlier 12-minute qualifying. Fuoco had topped that opening session.

Peugeot’s best put four cars inside four hundredths of a second. Team and driver gaps were extremely small.

Notable omissions and struggles

The Heart of Racing Aston Martin Valkyries missed Hyperpole. Harry Tincknell in the #007 missed the top ten by under two tenths.

The two Genesis GMR-001 LMDhs, driven by Mathieu Jaminet and André Lotterer, were at the rear of the field. Jaminet finished about 1.7 seconds off Fuoco’s benchmark.

LMGT3 highlights

Thomas Fleming took pole in LMGT3 on his series debut for Garage 59. He posted a 1:41.181 in the #10 McLaren 720S Evo.

• #10 Garage 59 McLaren — Thomas Fleming — 1:41.181
• #78 Lexus RC F GT3 — Hadrien David — 1:41.407
• Auto Sport Promotion Lexus — Clemens Schmid — (third)

The Hyperpole session was red-flagged near its end. A spin by Salih Yoluc in the TF Sport Corvette triggered the stoppage.

Earlier, Peter Dempsey had led the opening qualifying for the bronze drivers in the #34 Corvette.

Race details and context

The Imola 6 Hours now opens the 2026 WEC season. This followed the postponement of the Qatar round that had been due in March.

The race is scheduled to start at 13:00 local time on Sunday. Filmogaz.com will provide further coverage and updates.

The outcome confirmed that Ferrari secures pole in the WEC 2026 Imola round, edging out Toyota by a razor-thin margin.