Ferrari tops opening COTA WEC practice with Giovinazzi leading Fuoco
September 5, 2026
Giovinazzi delivered a statement lap in the No. 51 Ferrari 499P to head a factory 1-2 in opening practice for the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship Lone Star Le Mans at the Circuit of The Americas.
Antonio Giovinazzi set a 1m53.824s benchmark on medium tires inside the first third of the 90-minute session, beating Antonio Fuoco in the sister No. 50 entry by 0.205s.
The 90-minute Free Practice 1 session held under clear Texas skies marked the resumption of the WEC title chase in round five of eight, with Toyota leading BMW by just five points in the manufacturers’ standings heading into the Lone Star Le Mans weekend.
Ferrari’s early pace was particularly impressive given that Giovinazzi’s fastest lap came in the opening third of the session, three-tenths slower than the quickest FP1 lap from the same event in 2025.
Behind the leading Ferrari 499Ps, Victor Martins powered the No. 36 Alpine A424 to third fastest with a late 1:54.223, while Ryo Hirakawa slotted the No. 8 Toyota TR010 Hybrid into fourth with a 1:54.321.
The sister No. 35 Alpine of Charles Milesi posted a late 1:54.336 to split the Toyotas with the No. 7 entry of Nyck de Vries ultimately settling for sixth, just 0.059 seconds adrift.
Earl Bamber took seventh in the No. 38 Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac V-Series.R, a tenth faster than Marco Sorensen aboard the No. 009 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Valkyrie. The No. 19 Genesis GMR-001 of Matthieu Jaminet and the No. 94 Peugeot 9X8 of Malthe Jakobsen wrapped up the top ten.
BMW was the only team missing out of the top ten, the No. 15 BMW M Hybrid V8 of Raffaele Marciello more than a second off the benchmark in 15th, while the second entry only managed 17th.
In LMGT3, the No. 10 Garage 59 McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo driven by Thomas Fleming emerged as the early pace-setter in opening COTA WEC practice, posting the fastest time of 2:06.016.
Fleming’s lap came with just 20 minutes remaining in the session, bumping the No. 61 Iron Lynx Mercedes of Maxime Martin by 0.277 seconds, while the sister No. 58 Garage 59 McLaren driven by Finn Gehrsitz completed the top three, 0.311s adrift.
The No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo of Alessio Rovera was fourth, followed by Eduardo Barrichello in the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo.
WEC 2027 calendar: Full nine-round schedule, Silverstone returns
BMW WRT beats Ferrari to WEC Sao Paulo 6H win, Cadillac suffers pit-stop woes
