According to Motorsport.com, a dominant campaign by Toyota Racing has propelled the crew of the #8 TR010 Hybrid straight into the record books. Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, and Ryo Hirakawa wrapped up the 2026 World Endurance Championship Hypercar title at the Monza 6 Hours finale after a season where the Japanese manufacturer consistently outshined the opposition both on the asphalt and from the pitwall. Aboard their #8 machine, the trio capitalised on the team's improved form to claim the championship by 18 points, having secured three victories across the eight rounds.
For Buemi and Hartley, this result adds yet another massive milestone to illustrious careers. Both are now five-time Hypercar/LMP1 champions, making them by far the most successful drivers in WEC history. Their closest rival in the record books is none other than their own team-mate Hirakawa, who clinched his third crown in five years at an incredible strike rate of 60 percent. This puts Buemi and Hartley into an ultra-exclusive club of drivers with five or more titles in FIA-sanctioned championships, sitting alongside the likes of Sebastien Loeb (yes, that Sebastien Loeb), Sebastien Ogier, Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Juan Manuel Fangio, and Jose Maria Lopez.
Buemi's achievement carries deeply personal significance. As the longest-serving driver at Toyota since joining their LMP1 attack back in 2013, he has lived through every high and low at Cologne while pushing his overall WEC race wins record to 29. Reflecting on the triumph, Buemi admitted, \u201cIt's hard to describe the feeling. Obviously, amazing to be sharing it with Brendon and Ryo. Clearly, losing Le Mans was hard, but then winning the championship makes up for it a bit.\u201d He added that while they were too slow to fight at Monza, the crucial wins at Fuji and Barcelona kept them firmly in the fight.
For Hartley, this marks his third title with Toyota following previous championships with Porsche in 2015 and 2017, before enduring an ill-fated F1 stint with Toro Rosso and returning to the fold in 2019. Buemi even joked that Hartley is younger than him (Buemi is 38, Hartley is 37), making him the youngest ever five-time world champion. Yet, the road to this title was far from straightforward, especially after a painful defeat at the Le Mans 24 Hours. Both TR010 Hybrids were battling neck-and-neck on Sunday morning at Circuit de la Sarthe after passing the #12 Cadillac V-Series.R of Norman Nato before a full-course yellow upended the race.
\u201cWhen you have a chance to win Le Mans and it slips through your fingers, it is hard to take,\u201d Hartley confessed, revealing how he took the defeat personally after a stint where he took slightly longer to pass the Cadillac, allowing the sister car to jump them in the pits. \u201cI think we all took it badly, but I personally took a bit of responsibility, and I'm really proud of how the three of us fought back this last part of the season.\u201d
Meanwhile, Hirakawa's championship coronation follows hot on the heels of a surprise F1 debut at the Mexico Grand Prix, where he scored a point for Haas. Having stepped up from Toyota's Super GT and Super Formula roster, Hirakawa has steadily grown in pace since his 2022 debut, proving he can match his seasoned team-mates. Toyota's confidence in him is so absolute that the manufacturer hasn't even been able to identify another Japanese driver ready to step in when Kamui Kobayashi eventually departs the #7 car. \u201cWe won the Le Mans, and winning the championship for both drivers and manufacturers, I think it's a massive achievement for us,\u201d Hirakawa said. \u201cWe had a really tough year last year, but we came with a new package, and we won everything, so we need to be proud of that.\u201d
