WEC Interlagos 6-Hour Preview: Who can stop Ferrari in Brazil?

Is Ferrari’s Le Mans and WEC success catching up with it as it heads for this weekend’s Round 5 the Interlagos 6 Hours in Sao Paulo? And will draconian latest Balance of Performance (BoP) penalties be enough to stop the seemingly indomitable Italian machines at Sao Paulo?

Unbeaten in the WEC so far in 2025, and at Le Mans over the past three straight 24 Hours, Ferrari returns to its regular WEC BoP system, rather than Le Mans’ specialised formulae. Which means the red and yellow 499P Hypercars will race at 35kW (less than they did at Le Mans, at 480kW in Brazil on Sunday. Or 9kW less than at the Spa 6 Hour it also won in May.

The Ferraris also gain 27kg over Le Mans and will race 12kg heavier than they did at Spa back in May. The 499Ps will thus run 9 kg heavier and with 23kW (30HP) less power than they did to finish fifth and sixth at Interlagos last year.

By comparison, the two Gazoo Toyota GR010 HYBRID LMHs, which won in Brazil last year but sit second to Ferrari with a little more than half the Italian car’s WEC championship points, will race at the same 1069 kg minimum with 2024 and lost 21 kW less than in Brazil last year.

The Porsche 963s, which flew at Le Mans, have gained 7 kW and lost 2 kg since Spa, while the Cadillac V-Series gains 15kW and also loses 2 kg. BMW’s M Hybrid V8 gains 2kW , and also packs 9kg more this weekend, while Alpine’s A424s lose 8kW and gain 8 kg since its Spa second season podium at Spa. Peugeot’s struggling 9X8 and the improving Aston Martin Valkyrie LMHs will run 1030kg at the minimum weight and 520kW maximum power.

Ferrari leads the Manufacturers championship to Brazil on 172 points with Toyota on 95, Porsche with 84 and Cadillac, 76. Ferrari crews, Alessandro Pier Guidi, Antonio Giovinazzi and James Calado’s 51car leads the Drivers chase on 105 points over Philip Hanson, Robert Kubica and Yifei Ye in the yellow 83 on 89 points and the second red factory car driven by Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen on 56.

Practice for the Sao Paulo 6 Hours begins Friday 11 July, with qualifying Saturday and the race Sunday. Catch all the action including live timing and streaming at fiawec.com.