Motorsport: Ferrari dominates Spa, Palou boss at Indy roadcourse
Non-F1 NewsMonday, 12 May 2025 at 07:30
While Formula 1 'slumbers' between the Miami Grand Prix and the forthcoming Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, the World Endurance Championship (WEC) took place at Spa-Francorchamps, while Indycar began its hallowed Month of May with their race at the Indianapolis road course.
Ferrari dominated the WEC Spa 6 Hours with a 1-2 finish, remaining unbeaten this year. The #51 499P triumphed ahead of the #50 sister car, while the 296 GT3 claimed LMGT3 victory. With three wins from three races, AF Corse now heads to Le Mans chasing a third consecutive 24 Hours triumph.
Despite fierce competition from Alpine, Toyota, and Peugeot, Ferrari executed a flawless race strategy to take control late on. The Italian marque arrives at Le Mans as the clear favourite for the 2025 edition of the sport’s most prestigious endurance race.
Stateside, Alex Palou claimed his fourth win in five races this season by dominating the Sonsio Grand Prix at the Indy road course, extending his 2025 Indycar championship lead to 97 points.
It was his third straight victory in the event and puts him on course for a potential fourth title in five years. Palou passed Graham Rahal on Lap 58 and pulled away despite a late caution. Now targeting his first Indianapolis 500 win, Palou is also in striking distance of the all-time record for wins in a season. Practice for the Indy 500 begins Tuesday, 13 May.
Ferrari victory sets them up for a Le Mans treble
Ferrari continued its dominant form in the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship with another commanding 1-2 finish to remain unbeaten this season, claiming a hat trick of wins at the Spa 6 Hours in Belgium on Saturday. James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi and Alessandro Pier Guidi’s #51 Ferrari 499P led home their sister #50 car, crewed by Nicklas Nielsen, Miguel Molina and Antonio Fuoco.
The AF Corse Ferrari team now heads to Le Mans unbeaten in the 2025 WEC and is chasing a third consecutive 24 Hours victory. Spa also delivered a double celebration for Ferrari as the 296 GT3 crew of François Heriau, Simon Mann and Alessio Rovera fought back from an early penalty to take LMGT3 honours after a race-long battle with the Olsen–Levorato–Gattuso Ford Mustang GT3. The Flohr–Castellacci–Rigon Ferrari finished third.
The #50 Ferrari overcame a tense, race-long Hypercar fight with Frédéric Makowiecki, Jules Gounon and Mick Schumacher, who gave the Alpine A424 its second consecutive podium, ahead of the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa, which bounced back from another poor qualifying session. The two Cadillacs—Lynn–Nato–Stevens and Bamber–Bourdais–Button—followed, with the #7 Toyota of Conway, Kobayashi and de Vries trailing them.
Ferrari aces Spa 6 Hours strategy despite strong opposition
The second Alpine had been running fourth with three laps to go but dropped to eighth following a penultimate-lap splash-and-dash fuel stop. Porsche’s difficult season continued, with the Estre–Vanthoor–Wehrlein 963 finishing only ninth, ahead of the best-placed BMW in tenth. Peugeot showed pace, but its effort unravelled, with the di Resta–Jensen–Vergne car finishing eleventh, ahead of the second Porsche and the rapidly improving Aston Martin Valkyries.
Ferrari dominated qualifying, locking out the front row in Hyperpole with three 499Ps, despite escalating Balance of Performance penalties. The race itself proved more competitive, with Alpine, BMW, Toyota and Peugeot all briefly leading.
The Ferraris, however, nailed the strategy. Pier Guidi emerged in the lead of the #51 with an hour to go, while Nielsen held off Schumacher for second. The second BMW retired with a brake problem in the final hour, the second Peugeot stopped after contact, and the yellow Ferrari was delayed for an hour with a turbocharger issue.
It’s all eyes on Le Mans next for the 24 Hours, where the challenge is simple: beat the Ferraris. The Italian manufacturer arrives at the Sarthe classic unbeaten in 2025 and fresh off back-to-back Le Mans wins. Block out 3pm Saturday 14 June to 3pm Sunday 15 June on your calendar—this year’s 24 Hours promises fireworks.
(Report by Michele Lupini)
Indycar: Palou dominates at Indianapolis road course for fourth win in five races
Alex Palou extended his commanding lead in the 2025 NTT Indycar Series championship with victory in Saturday’s Sonsio Grand Prix, held on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
It marked the Spaniard’s third consecutive win in this event – an all-time record – and his fourth win in the first five races of the season. Palou now becomes the first driver since Sébastien Bourdais in 2006 to open an Indycar season with four victories in five starts.
Palou said: “I cannot describe the amazing season we’ve had so far. I owe everything to the team, Chip Ganassi Racing, my teammates, everybody who is working behind the scenes to make me look so fast on track. It’s amazing. It’s unbelievable.”
Starting from pole in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, Palou took the chequered flag 5.4840 seconds ahead of Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward. Two-time series champion Will Power finished third for Team Penske, 8.4529 seconds behind the winner, with teammate Scott McLaughlin in fourth. Scott Dixon rounded out the top five for Ganassi.
Palou controls race after mid-race pass on Rahal
The only full-course caution of the race – and the first since Lap 1 of the season opener at St. Petersburg – came on Lap 70 when David Malukas stopped in Turn 10. It bunched the field but did little to change the outcome. On the Lap 72 restart, Palou again pulled away and was never threatened.
Prior to that, much of the race had been led by Graham Rahal, who took the lead from Palou on Lap 2 and controlled proceedings through pit cycles. The two ran nose-to-tail through the middle stint, with differing tyre strategies ultimately tipping the advantage toward Palou.
Indycar's new rules required drivers to use two sets of both Firestone primary and alternate tyres. Rahal’s team opted for new tyres in the first two stints, while Palou used scuffed sets and saved a new primary set for the final run. Rahal retained the lead after their second stops at the end of Lap 41, but Palou reeled him back in with more overtake assist available and better tyre durability.
Palou made his decisive move on Lap 58, attacking in Turns 1 and 2 before diving down the inside of Turn 7 to take the lead for good. Within four laps, he had built a 4.1-second margin.
Following his latest victory, Palou’s 2025 campaign reads: wins at St. Petersburg, Thermal, Barber, and Indianapolis road course, with a second-place finish at Long Beach. He now leads the standings by 97 points over Kyle Kirkwood, just five rounds into a 17-race season.
Unbeaten streak puts Palou in rare title-winning territory
O’Ward said: “We need to do something to stop this 10 car. These guys are really, really on a roll. I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it, especially in Indycar.”
Palou’s sights are now firmly set on two major goals: winning the 109th Indianapolis 500 on Sunday 25 May – a race he has never won and still seeks his first oval victory – and a fourth Astor Challenge Cup in five seasons. Only Bourdais has achieved such a feat in the modern era, winning four consecutive titles from 2004 to 2007.
Palou said: “Hopefully we get to stay here [Victory Podium] again in a couple of weeks for the biggest race of the year.”
With 12 races still to run, Palou is also in position to chase the all-time record for most wins in a single season: 10, held jointly by A.J. Foyt (1964) and Al Unser (1970).
Attention now shifts to the famed 2.5-mile oval, where practice for the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge begins at 12:00 ET on Tuesday, 13 May.
Palou remains the form driver in the series and will enter the month of May with championship momentum and a historic opportunity at the biggest race of the year. (Source: IndyCar)
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