The Headlines from FP1: Ferrari tops both categories in Barcelona
Robert Kubica and Alessio Rovera set the fastest Hypercar and LMGT3 lap times respectively in preparation for Sunday's penultimate round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship campaign.
Track action got underway this morning ahead of the penultimate round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship – the inaugural 6 Hours of Barcelona presented by Visit Qatar
Warm and sunny conditions welcomed the 35-car grid as 17 Hypercars and 18 LMGT3 challengers prepare for the weekend action
Robert Kubica reacquainted himself with the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, a venue he raced at eight times during his Formula 1 career, by setting the fastest lap of the initial 90-minute session
The AF Corse Ferrari driver peaked with a best lap of 1m31.891s in the yellow #83 Ferrari 499P Hypercar to pip the #009 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie by a slender 0.107s
Local ace Alex Riberas, born and raised in Barcelona, posted that car’s best effort, heading off the challenge from the two factory Ferrari 499Ps
The #51 Ferrari just shaded the #50 entry by a tiny 0.013s to take third position
Fifth-fastest in the headlining Hypercar category was the #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie, as British duo Harry Tincknell and Tom Gamble continued their strong recent form
Completing the top six was the championship-leading #8 TOYOTA RACING TR010 Hybrid Hypercar shared by recent Fuji winners Sébastien Buemi, Ryō Hirakawa and Brendon Hartley
The sister Toyota placed 11th in the session, beaten to the top 10 by the #38 Cadillac in seventh, the #36 Alpine in eighth, the #12 Cadillac in ninth and the #19 Genesis GMR-001 in 10th
The session ran freely, with few on-track incidents and just a procedural Full Course Yellow briefly interrupting the green flag time
LMGT3
Ferrari similarly ruled the roost in the LMGT3 category, as the VISTA AF Corse 296 Evos went one-two
The #21 car piloted by Alessio Rovera, François Hériau and Simon Mann beat the sister #54 entry shared by Thomas Flohr, Davide Rigon and Francesco Castellacci by 0.431s, as Rovera claimed the best lap
Racing Team Turkey by TF placed third, as the Corvette challenge hots up with the American manufacturer hunting a third victory of the season
Garage 59 also showed well, with the #10 McLaren 720S Evo of Antares Au, Thomas Fleming and Marvin Kirchhöfer winding up fourth
Iron Lynx again demonstrated strong pace in free practice, with the #61 Mercedes-AMG of Maxime Martin, Rui Andrade and Martin Berry posting the fifth-fastest lap
Akkodis ASP Team claimed sixth with the #78 Lexus RC F as Hadrien David continues his impressive FIA WEC rookie campaign alongside team-mates Esteban Masson and Tom Van Rompuy
Championship-leading TF Sport was 10th fastest, as Jonny Edgar homes in on the 2026 LMGT3 Drivers’ title after #33 team-mates Ben Keating and Nicky Catsburg missed races earlier in the season
Check out the full FP1 results. The second Free Practice session is scheduled to get underway at 16:30 local time (CEST).
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