Penalties and Contact Shuffle Hypercar Order at Interlagos

Will Stevens converted Cadillac’s pole position into the early lead at the 6 Hours of São Paulo, but the race quickly became a strategy battle as pit stops, penalties and contact reshuffled the Hypercar order. Stevens led the damp opening stint in the No. 12 Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac before a slow first stop, caused by a stuck front-right wheel nut, dropped him eight places. After two hours, Kevin Magnussen’s No. 15 BMW led, Stevens had recovered to second and Yifei Ye’s No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari ran third. The No. 8 Toyota suffered major damage after contact and fell 13 laps down.

By halfway, BMW was still in front, and the lead kept changing hands through the third and fourth hours. Raffaele Marciello was 17.267 seconds ahead of Norman Nato at the end of the third hour, then BMW and Alpine traded the overall lead after four hours. Antonio Felix da Costa’s No. 35 Alpine led on strategy before Marciello’s No. 20 BMW briefly moved ahead, and da Costa reclaimed first place before handing over to Charles Milesi. The No. 51 Ferrari was 1.8 seconds behind before it collected track signage in a pit-lane rejoin, while the No. 12 Cadillac and the other Cadillac both lost time after contact with the No. 87 Lexus and the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari, which also received a 10-second penalty. The No. 7 Toyota and both Peugeots also dropped back because of penalties and damage, and showers skirted Interlagos.

LMGT3 also changed shape on pit strategy. Proton Competition’s Ford Mustangs showed strong pace and ran 1-2 for long stretches early on, while the lead moved between the Akkodis ASP Lexus and Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette. After two hours, the Ford Mustangs were back near the front and the Heart of Racing Aston Martin was second in class. At four hours, Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette led, the No. 87 Lexus was second and the No. 77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang was third, with the No. 92 Manthey Porsche and No. 69 Team WRT BMW close behind.