How WEC's Hypercar teams fared so far in 2026 - our verdict
Hamir Thapar examines how each of the Hypercar teams have performed so far in 2026
The World Endurance Championship has reached its midway point and has taken some time out for the summer.
As such, it's the perfect time to take stock and examine how each of the Hypercar teams have fared so far in 2026.
And this is where we landed:
BMW
The extent to which BoP has contributed to this upturn in form will be discussed for a long time; what is certain is that BMW has been a model of consistency this season.
After a largely anonymous 2025 and a somewhat mediocre season opener in 2026, BMW has been a more consistent threat than the majority of Hypercar runners.
Never mind the two wins BMW has secured in the last three rounds; the manner in which the team has done so suggests that the M Hybrid V8 is capable of winning even when it isn’t the outright fastest car.
The team stayed out of trouble at the attritional 6 Hours of Spa to take a memorable one-two, thanks in part to Kevin Magnussen’s dogged defence in the closing stages. The No.20 was one of the fastest Hypercar runners at Le Mans, and while both Cadillac and Ferrari arguably had the performance edge last time out at Interlagos, BMW was free of the strategic and qualifying woes that hindered the opposition, enabling the No.15 to claim its first WEC victory.
Anytime the frontrunners hit trouble, BMW is invariably there to take the spoils.
There’s plenty to play for this season, but with both cars having tasted victory, it's tough to contest the claim that BMW currently seem to have the most complete package.
Toyota
A promising start coupled with that precious win at Le Mans has been as good as things have gotten for Toyota so far this season. The TR010 Hybrid’s pace has good, but inconsistent, to say the least.
They beat Ferrari on home turf at Imola, with the No.8 of Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa and Sebastien Buemi prevailing in Italy in a tight battle with the scarlet favourites.
The team wasn't on the same pace as BMW at Spa, but still took fifth with the No.7 car, although Kamui Kobayashi lost fourth to Tom Gamble in the No.007 Aston Martin with just a few laps to go.
Moving onto Le Mans, the victory there was two-fold. The offset strategy helped them jump up the order early on, despite qualifying badly. They put together with stronger pace in high temperatures than their main challengers, Cadillac and BMW. The No.7 car overcame sensor issues which limited its power, helping them to take the win, just over 11 seconds in front of the No.20 BMW.
But then, at Interlagos, a combination of bad luck and poor pace meant the team failed to score points with either car for the first time since 2017, eliminating their lead in the manufacturers championship to just 5 points over BMW.
The TR010 Hybrid is arguably the most difficult car to gauge with regard to overall pace, and while there’s nothing to suggest the team can’t manage another strategy-centric win later this season, Toyota appear to have lagged behind BMW as of late.
Cadillac
If there is one team on the 2026 grid whose results do not reflect its true performance, it's unquestionably Cadillac.
After an anonymous start to the season, Cadillac announced its arrival with a ballistic run to Hyperpole at Le Mans. Granted, Jack Aitken was later stripped of his time due to track limit violations, but that didn’t stop Cadillac from making its presence felt in the race.
Mechanical issues ruled the No.38 car out of the running, while the No.12 car was powerless to defend from the likes of Toyota and BMW as it slipped off the podium in the final hours of the race, although it still led the most laps overall, mostly in the hands of Will Stevens.
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The V Series.R’s pace was once again evident in Brazil, where the team locked out the front row in Hyperpole and looked set to convert in the race. But, pitlane errors put an end to both cars’ hopes. The fact that they still finished in third and fourth is testament to their immense race pace, even if they didn't win.
Time and again, the team has consistently proven itself in both qualifying and race trim, only for operational, mechanical or strategic blunders to intervene.
These are issues Cadillac will need to address if it's to secure the silverware its package clearly deserves.
Ferrari
In contrast to its early domination last year, which yielded three wins in the opening three rounds, few would have foreseen Ferrari going winless for the first half of 2026.
That’s not to say there’s been a drop-off in pace. The No.51 car of James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi and Alessandro Pier Guidi took pole at the season opener at Imola and was firmly in the hunt for the win.
Granted, BoP has probably played a part given Ferrari’s commanding 2025 campaign, but the 499P’s struggles go further than that.
Complaints from the drivers over poor balance have persisted throughout 2026 and, when speaking to The Pit Stop Endurance, Calado stated that a lack of downforce hindered proceedings at Le Mans, as did the new tyres, which he stated: “react quite a lot different”.
There have been positives; the team has secured podiums in each of the opening four rounds, and the No.51 arguably had the pace to win in Brazil.
Frustratingly for Ferrari, one of its cars has failed to finish at Spa or Le Mans.
The fact that the team is still third in the manufacturers’ race with five rounds to go is impressive given its struggles.
However, given the daunting 70 points separating Ferrari from the current leaders, Toyota, the team will require a near-faultless run from here on in if it's to have any hope of replicating its past successes.
Alpine
In its final year as a works Hypercar manufacturer, Alpine will be less than pleased.
The A424 has had obvious pace, best exemplified by the No.35 car securing third place in Hyperpole 2 at Le Mans.
The team opted for an offset fuel strategy in Brazil but was unable to capitalise due to the lack of safety cars, despite hustling the eventual winning BMW in the closing stages. T
he team currently sits fifth in the manufacturers’ standings, one point ahead of Aston Martin and 19 points behind Cadillac.
While the latter’s position can be attributed to operational errors rather than poor pace, Alpine have had the pace to trouble the podium on more than one occasion this season.
While a title bid is now effectively out of the question, Alpine have the tools necessary to end its WEC swansong on a high.
Aston Martin
Despite the lack of silverware, Aston Martin THOR has taken a major step forward in 2026.
After finishing a distant last in the manufacturers’ championship last year, the team has scored points in every round so far this season, with the high point being a fourth place at Spa.
The team was openly confident heading into Sao Paulo, confidence that was rewarded with a solid sixth-place finish for the No.007 car. A commendable result given the lack of safety cars in the race.
For Aston Martin to currently lie sixth in the manufacturer’s standings, just one point behind Alpine, who many considered a dark horse heading into this season, is testament to the team’s progress.
Having aimed to become a consistent points-scoring outfit in 2026 and capitalised on the misfortune of others, Aston Martin appear to be on a steady upward curve.
Genesis
The World Endurance Championship’s newest entrant has had an encouraging start.
Genesis Magma Racing has been careful to manage expectations and at Imola, Hyundai Motorsports President Cyril Abiteboul stated that “reliability and good execution” were the team’s priority over headline-grabbing results.
From that point of view, it was mission accomplished for the first two races as both cars made it to the end with only minor technical issues.
The team even grabbed its first points at Spa thanks to the No.17 car of Pipo Derani, Mathys Jaubert and Andre Lotterer.
A late suspension failure for the No.17 car at Le Mans prevented the team from meeting its target of getting both cars to the end. However, further progress was made at Sao Paulo as the No.19 car topped the second practice session and later progressed to Hyperpole 2.
Race pace may need improvement but given the team’s desire to focus on reliability and running time, Genessis has had a promising start to life in the World Endurance Championship.
Peugeot
Peugeot has been arguably the most anonymous fixture of the Hypercar class in 2026.
A shock maiden pole at Spa, which fell victim to a crash for the No.94 car, remains the only discernible highlight.
The team failed to make an impression at Le Mans and could only manage 14th and 16th in Brazil.
After praising the revised Evo Joker rules in 2025, Peugeot has failed to capitalise in 2026. Even so, Stellantis head of motorsport Olivier Jansonnie has remained positive about the forthcoming developments and has insisted that the team will field an evolution of the 9X8 for 2027.
Having already made significant alterations to the 9X8 in order to widen its setup window and improve the aerodynamics, the team will be relying on a major turnaround for 2027.
BMW has the edge as the 2026 WEC season bears its halfway point. However, with Ferrari on the march and Toyota hanging on, there is plenty to play for in the second half of the season.
Who will emerge victorious at the end? Time will soon tell.
The World Endurance Championship has reached its midway point and has taken some time out for the summer.
As such, it's the perfect time to take stock and examine how each of the Hypercar teams have fared so far in 2026.
And this is where we landed:
BMW
The extent to which BoP has contributed to this upturn in form will be discussed for a long time; what is certain is that BMW has been a model of consistency this season.
After a largely anonymous 2025 and a somewhat mediocre season opener in 2026, BMW has been a more consistent threat than the majority of Hypercar runners.
Never mind the two wins BMW has secured in the last three rounds; the manner in which the team has done so suggests that the M Hybrid V8 is capable of winning even when it isn’t the outright fastest car.
The team stayed out of trouble at the attritional 6 Hours of Spa to take a memorable one-two, thanks in part to Kevin Magnussen’s dogged defence in the closing stages. The No.20 was one of the fastest Hypercar runners at Le Mans, and while both Cadillac and Ferrari arguably had the performance edge last time out at Interlagos, BMW was free of the strategic and qualifying woes that hindered the opposition, enabling the No.15 to claim its first WEC victory.
Anytime the frontrunners hit trouble, BMW is invariably there to take the spoils.
There’s plenty to play for this season, but with both cars having tasted victory, it's tough to contest the claim that BMW currently seem to have the most complete package.
Toyota
A promising start coupled with that precious win at Le Mans has been as good as things have gotten for Toyota so far this season. The TR010 Hybrid’s pace has good, but inconsistent, to say the least.
They beat Ferrari on home turf at Imola, with the No.8 of Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa and Sebastien Buemi prevailing in Italy in a tight battle with the scarlet favourites.
The team wasn't on the same pace as BMW at Spa, but still took fifth with the No.7 car, although Kamui Kobayashi lost fourth to Tom Gamble in the No.007 Aston Martin with just a few laps to go.
Moving onto Le Mans, the victory there was two-fold. The offset strategy helped them jump up the order early on, despite qualifying badly. They put together with stronger pace in high temperatures than their main challengers, Cadillac and BMW. The No.7 car overcame sensor issues which limited its power, helping them to take the win, just over 11 seconds in front of the No.20 BMW.
But then, at Interlagos, a combination of bad luck and poor pace meant the team failed to score points with either car for the first time since 2017, eliminating their lead in the manufacturers championship to just 5 points over BMW.
The TR010 Hybrid is arguably the most difficult car to gauge with regard to overall pace, and while there’s nothing to suggest the team can’t manage another strategy-centric win later this season, Toyota appear to have lagged behind BMW as of late.
Cadillac
If there is one team on the 2026 grid whose results do not reflect its true performance, it's unquestionably Cadillac.
After an anonymous start to the season, Cadillac announced its arrival with a ballistic run to Hyperpole at Le Mans. Granted, Jack Aitken was later stripped of his time due to track limit violations, but that didn’t stop Cadillac from making its presence felt in the race.
Mechanical issues ruled the No.38 car out of the running, while the No.12 car was powerless to defend from the likes of Toyota and BMW as it slipped off the podium in the final hours of the race, although it still led the most laps overall, mostly in the hands of Will Stevens.
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The V Series.R’s pace was once again evident in Brazil, where the team locked out the front row in Hyperpole and looked set to convert in the race. But, pitlane errors put an end to both cars’ hopes. The fact that they still finished in third and fourth is testament to their immense race pace, even if they didn't win.
Time and again, the team has consistently proven itself in both qualifying and race trim, only for operational, mechanical or strategic blunders to intervene.
These are issues Cadillac will need to address if it's to secure the silverware its package clearly deserves.
Ferrari
In contrast to its early domination last year, which yielded three wins in the opening three rounds, few would have foreseen Ferrari going winless for the first half of 2026.
That’s not to say there’s been a drop-off in pace. The No.51 car of James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi and Alessandro Pier Guidi took pole at the season opener at Imola and was firmly in the hunt for the win.
Granted, BoP has probably played a part given Ferrari’s commanding 2025 campaign, but the 499P’s struggles go further than that.
Complaints from the drivers over poor balance have persisted throughout 2026 and, when speaking to The Pit Stop Endurance, Calado stated that a lack of downforce hindered proceedings at Le Mans, as did the new tyres, which he stated: “react quite a lot different”.
There have been positives; the team has secured podiums in each of the opening four rounds, and the No.51 arguably had the pace to win in Brazil.
Frustratingly for Ferrari, one of its cars has failed to finish at Spa or Le Mans.
The fact that the team is still third in the manufacturers’ race with five rounds to go is impressive given its struggles.
However, given the daunting 70 points separating Ferrari from the current leaders, Toyota, the team will require a near-faultless run from here on in if it's to have any hope of replicating its past successes.
Alpine
In its final year as a works Hypercar manufacturer, Alpine will be less than pleased.
The A424 has had obvious pace, best exemplified by the No.35 car securing third place in Hyperpole 2 at Le Mans.
The team opted for an offset fuel strategy in Brazil but was unable to capitalise due to the lack of safety cars, despite hustling the eventual winning BMW in the closing stages. T
he team currently sits fifth in the manufacturers’ standings, one point ahead of Aston Martin and 19 points behind Cadillac.
While the latter’s position can be attributed to operational errors rather than poor pace, Alpine have had the pace to trouble the podium on more than one occasion this season.
While a title bid is now effectively out of the question, Alpine have the tools necessary to end its WEC swansong on a high.
Aston Martin
Despite the lack of silverware, Aston Martin THOR has taken a major step forward in 2026.
After finishing a distant last in the manufacturers’ championship last year, the team has scored points in every round so far this season, with the high point being a fourth place at Spa.
The team was openly confident heading into Sao Paulo, confidence that was rewarded with a solid sixth-place finish for the No.007 car. A commendable result given the lack of safety cars in the race.
For Aston Martin to currently lie sixth in the manufacturer’s standings, just one point behind Alpine, who many considered a dark horse heading into this season, is testament to the team’s progress.
Having aimed to become a consistent points-scoring outfit in 2026 and capitalised on the misfortune of others, Aston Martin appear to be on a steady upward curve.
Genesis
The World Endurance Championship’s newest entrant has had an encouraging start.
Genesis Magma Racing has been careful to manage expectations and at Imola, Hyundai Motorsports President Cyril Abiteboul stated that “reliability and good execution” were the team’s priority over headline-grabbing results.
From that point of view, it was mission accomplished for the first two races as both cars made it to the end with only minor technical issues.
The team even grabbed its first points at Spa thanks to the No.17 car of Pipo Derani, Mathys Jaubert and Andre Lotterer.
A late suspension failure for the No.17 car at Le Mans prevented the team from meeting its target of getting both cars to the end. However, further progress was made at Sao Paulo as the No.19 car topped the second practice session and later progressed to Hyperpole 2.
Race pace may need improvement but given the team’s desire to focus on reliability and running time, Genessis has had a promising start to life in the World Endurance Championship.
Peugeot
Peugeot has been arguably the most anonymous fixture of the Hypercar class in 2026.
A shock maiden pole at Spa, which fell victim to a crash for the No.94 car, remains the only discernible highlight.
The team failed to make an impression at Le Mans and could only manage 14th and 16th in Brazil.
After praising the revised Evo Joker rules in 2025, Peugeot has failed to capitalise in 2026. Even so, Stellantis head of motorsport Olivier Jansonnie has remained positive about the forthcoming developments and has insisted that the team will field an evolution of the 9X8 for 2027.
Having already made significant alterations to the 9X8 in order to widen its setup window and improve the aerodynamics, the team will be relying on a major turnaround for 2027.
BMW has the edge as the 2026 WEC season bears its halfway point. However, with Ferrari on the march and Toyota hanging on, there is plenty to play for in the second half of the season.
Who will emerge victorious at the end? Time will soon tell.
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