Titles are on the line in Italy this weekend (6-8 November), as for one last time in 2026, FIA World Endurance Championship competitors prepare to engage in a high-speed, high-stakes battle for glory – by taming the legendary Autodromo Nazionale Monza.
Built more than a century ago in royal parkland just north of Milan, the world’s third-oldest purpose-built motor racing circuit – and oldest in mainland Europe – has a long association with the pinnacle of international endurance racing, stretching back over six decades and yielding victories for heroes of the sport such as John Surtees, Mario Andretti and Jacky Ickx.
Known as ‘The Temple of Speed’, the Autodromo has undergone several transformations over the years, with its current 5.793km, 11-turn layout and combination of long straights and tight chicanes prioritising aerodynamic efficiency, traction and braking stability.
FIA WEC visited Monza for three consecutive campaigns from 2021 to 2023. On the most recent of those occasions, 12 different models of car took to the track; in evidence of the world championship’s burgeoning momentum and growth, this weekend, there will be 17.
On the driving front, 11 home heroes feature on the grid, while Italy becomes the first country to book-end the calendar and host the series at two different venues during a single season, as the action concludes in Europe for the first time since 2019. Although the Hypercar Manufacturers’ crown has already been clinched by Toyota, three other prestigious trophies are still up for grabs in the 6 Hours of Monza – setting the scene for a scintillating final showdown...
Toyota sewed up the Manufacturers’ spoils courtesy of a commanding one-two finish last time out in Spain, but there remains the matter of the Hypercar Drivers’ World Championship to decide, with the #8 crew of Barcelona winners Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa in possession of a 17-point advantage over #7 stablemates Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries.
With just 26 points in play – 25 for victory plus one for pole position – the odds are clearly weighted in the #8 trio’s favour, as Buemi and Hartley, in their 50th FIA WEC appearance together, set their sights on a record-extending fifth title.
Alongside Hirakawa, the pair may have one hand on the coveted crown, but it is the #7 Toyota that boasts much the better résumé at Monza. Conway and Kobayashi formed part of the triumphant line-up in Italy in 2021 and 2023 – having begun both races from pole – and rounded out the rostrum in third place in 2022.
The Japanese star returns as the series’ qualifying lap record-holder at the track, while the Briton – with whom he is set to share a car for an unparalleled 75th time – will bid a fond farewell at the end of the race, as he hangs up his motorsport helmet. But will he do so with a third Drivers’ trophy in his baggage?
Ominously for its adversaries, Toyota has won all eight FIA WEC season finales since 2017, but in front of its ever-ardent tifosi – with ticket sales hinting at a huge on-site crowd – Ferrari in particular will be eager to halt that streak this weekend, after suffering a narrow defeat to its Japanese rival in the curtain-raising contest at Imola. Not only is the Prancing Horse competing on home soil for the second time in 2026, it is also keen to conclude a challenging title defence on a high.
The Ferrari 499P was a podium-finisher on its maiden outing at the Autodromo in 2023, and five of the marque’s six Hypercar drivers – James Calado, Antonio Fuoco, Alessandro Pier Guidi, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen – have sprayed champagne there in GT categories in the past. Pier Guidi – on the cusp of his 70th FIA WEC start – holds the fastest GTE Pro lap around the circuit.
BMW – sitting one spot further up the Manufacturers’ standings in second – is amongst six carmakers across both classes never to have previously competed at Monza in the championship, and the Bavarian brand is determined to arrest a disappointing recent run with a rostrum result.
Elsewhere in the field, Alpine is aiming to sign off in style in its 80th and final FIA WEC event. Les Bleus’ emblematic #36 entry prevailed at the track in 2022 after finishing runner-up in 2021, with its valedictory appearance set to signal – somewhat appropriately – the marque’s 36th Hypercar race. French counterpart Peugeot, meanwhile, made its series debut at the Autodromo in 2022, with the 9X8 Hypercar reaching the podium there for the first time 12 months later.
‘The Temple of Speed’ has been kind to Corvette in the past. A late Ferrari splash ‘n’ dash pit-stop with just two laps remaining in 2022 handed the American brand LMGTE Pro victory, before the #33 entry made history the following campaign by clinching the LMGTE Am crown with two rounds to spare – the earliest any FIA WEC title has ever been won.
Current crew Nicky Catsburg and Ben Keating were part of that championship-winning line-up, with their #33 team-mate Jonny Edgar on the verge of solo LMGT3 Drivers’ glory this weekend, after the Dutchman and American missed part of the season earlier on. Keating is a former Monza pole-sitter, while TF Sport has started on the front row in-class for all three races to-date at the circuit – although with no car having triumphed from pole position in any category thus far this year, qualifying may not be the secret to success this weekend.
Monza marks the 80th FIA WEC outing for Chevrolet, and there is an even more momentous milestone for closest rival, Porsche. Across all of its GT variants, the 911 will chalk up an unprecedented 500 entries in the series, and the German sportscar has consistently shone at the Autodromo. Indeed, the last time the championship visited, Porsche locked out the LMGTE Am podium.
Italy’s own Riccardo Pera placed third that day – replicating 2026 The Bend Manthey team-mate Richard Lietz’s LMGTE Pro rostrum finish from two years prior. The ultra-experienced Austrian recently became the first driver to achieve five LMGT3 victories, and at Monza, he will become the second driver to make 100 FIA WEC starts, after Buemi in Barcelona.
Launched in 2024, the production-based division will be making its Monza bow, and Porsche powerhouse Manthey has developed a habit of conquering circuits first time out. With an 18-point deficit to overturn to TF Sport and Edgar at the summit of the standings, Pera, Lietz and Yasser Shahin will need another big result in order to secure Manthey a third consecutive LMGT3 crown. Encouragingly for the trio, a Porsche sporting the same race number – #92 – prevailed in LMGTE Pro on its debut at the venue in 2021.
Corvette has two irons in the fire with the #34 Racing Team Turkey by TF Z06 also still in the reckoning, while the fourth and final title contender, the #69 BMW, requires a perfect weekend and some serious bad luck to befall its adversaries if it is to spring a surprise and steal the spoils. Should that happen, it would represent the first time any competitor in any category has been crowned champion without scoring at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The on-track sessions will begin with free practice on Friday, 6 November. Qualifying – and the Hyperpole top ten shootout – starts at 14:20 CET (UTC +1) on Saturday, 7 November, with the six-hour race getting underway at 11:00 CET on Sunday, 8 November.
Tickets to attend the race weekend are still available to purchase here.
Check out all the key information regarding the 6 Hours of Monza, including the full event timetable and entry list.
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