The final round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship roared into life at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza in dry and cloudy conditions in front of a huge and expectant crowd, delivering a fascinating opening two hours of racing.
There was immediate drama as Daniel Juncadella snatched the lead from the outside of the front row of the grid as the Hypercar field funnelled into the notoriously treacherous Rettifilo chicane. The Spanish ace, driving the #19 Genesis Magma Racing GMR-001, was judged to have gained an advantage by cutting the opening complex of corners and handed a five-second penalty. Juncadella had relinquished the lead anyway prior to that, as a flying Jack Aitken in the #38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA entry made a confident move heading into Parabolica at the end of the sixth lap. Aitken built a small gap and held it up to the two-hour mark, completing a rare race start strategised around his impending first-time fatherhood which may require him to leave the track early. After two hours, Aitken led with a two-second advantage over the #19 Genesis, now in the hands of Paul-Loup Chatin following a driver change during a second safety car period.
The Ferrari challenge suffered early blows when the pole-sitting #50 499P—running third in the first 30 minutes with Miguel Molina at the wheel—was twice penalised for tyre pressure infringements, dropping it to the rear of the Hypercar field. The same issue hit the #83 AF Corse Ferrari, as Phil Hanson served a 20-second penalty that dropped the car out of the top ten. Meanwhile, the #51 Ferrari enjoyed a positive start with Antonio Giovinazzi and then James Calado racing well in the leading group. Alpine showed strongly in the A424 Hypercar's final factory FIA WEC appearance, with Jules Gounon placing third in the #36 car before handing over to Victor Martins. Calado eventually used the driver change to slip past into third, chasing Aitken and Chatin. René Rast survived an early trip down the escape road in the #20 BMW on lap one, and teammate Sheldon van der Linde took over at the second pit-stop to run a solid fifth, right ahead of the #93 Team Peugeot TotalEnergies entry where Paul di Resta put in a strong opening shift in the 9X8's final outing in its present guise. In the Drivers' title battle, the two Toyota crews ran outside the top ten with the #8 in 14th and the #7 in 16th, all but guaranteeing the 2026 crown for Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, and Ryō Hirakawa.
In LMGT3, the pole-itting #78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus of Tom Van Rompuy led initially before being overtaken by the #77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang of Eric Powell. The American machine showed great pace as Stefano Gattuso briefly made it a one-two, before a five-second penalty for a power spike hit the #88 car. Petru Umbrărescu closed in and took the lead when the #77 Mustang picked up a penalty for multiple track limit violations. The #34 Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette and #69 Team WRT BMW surged from the midfield to run second and third with Salih Yoluç and Anthony McIntosh starring. The #61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG started by Martin Berry held fourth for Rui Andrade and Maxime Martin, while the #27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage ran fifth ahead of a pending five-second penalty. The recovering #88 Mustang rounded out the top six, whereas the title-leading #33 TF Sport Corvette slipped back due to a Virtual Safety Car procedural infringement.
Chaos struck out on track after 40 minutes when Gray Newell was hit by Johannes Zelger on the entry to the Ascari Chicane and spun wildly, catching Antares Au in the #10 Garage 59 McLaren and sending him into the gravel to trigger the first safety car. A second safety car intervention followed when Alexander West locked up and hit the #32 Team WRT BMW of Darren Leung at the Rettifilo chicane, eliminating both cars and seeing West drag the wildly crabbing #58 McLaren back to the pits for retirement. Further compounding matters, the #92 The Bend Manthey Porsche was hit with a drive-through penalty for pit-lane speeding when Yasser Shahin completed his first stop under the safety car, dealing a heavy blow to their slim title chances.
