Ferrari leads WEC Austin FP1 with Antonio Giovinazzi ahead of Antonio Fuoco

Antonio Giovinazzi headed a Ferrari 1-2 in opening practice for the Lone Star Le Mans, with Alpine and Toyota next in the Hypercar order

The 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship resumed at Austin on Friday with opening practice for the Lone Star Le Mans, as Antonio Giovinazzi set the fastest overall time in the Hypercar class.

Temperatures were already around 30°C during FP1, with similarly hot conditions expected through the weekend. Drivers suggested on Thursday that the heat could make double-stinting difficult, while reduced usable energy is also expected to shorten stint lengths in Sunday’s six-hour race, potentially adding an extra pit stop.

Ferrari occupied the top two positions, with Giovinazzi putting the No. 51 factory 499P on top of the timesheets with a 1m53.824s lap. He finished 0.205s ahead of Antonio Fuoco in the sister No. 50 Ferrari.

Alpine and Toyota filled the positions immediately behind the Ferraris. Jules Gounon put the No. 36 Alpine A424 third, almost 0.4s off the lead and 0.098s ahead of the No. 8 Toyota.

The No. 35 Alpine was narrowly ahead of Nyck de Vries in the No. 7 Toyota, with the latter triggering a brief Full Course Yellow after an off-track excursion.

Faster of the two Cadillac Jota entries was the No. 38 in seventh, 0.6s off the pace and ahead of the No. 009 Aston Martin and No. 19 Genesis, which was among the few cars to set its quickest time on hard tyres.

#7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota TR010: Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck De Vries

Photo by: Toyota Racing

In the closing stages, the No. 94 Peugeot climbed into the top 10 at the expense of the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari, which finished 0.949s off the pace while running a mixed set of medium and hard tyres.

BMW Hypercar entrants were more than a second off the leading time in 15th and 17th, although practice times remained difficult to compare because of differing fuel loads, tyre choices and set-up programmes.

#009 Aston Martin Thor Team Aston Martin Valkyrie: Alex Riberas, Marco Sorensen

Photo by: Jakob Ebrey / LAT Images via Getty Images

In LMGT3, Tom Fleming set the fastest time with a 2m06.016s lap in the No. 58 Garage 59 McLaren.

Fleming moved ahead of Maxime Martin’s No. 61 Iron Lynx Mercedes midway through the session, beating it by 0.277s, with the No. 10 McLaren close behind.

The No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari and No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin completed the top five, the latter finishing half a second behind the class-leading McLaren. The Ferrari was one of the cars required to serve a five-minute pit stop following repeated track-limits infringements.

The two Proton Ford entries occupied sixth and seventh, followed by the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin and No. 87 Lexus ASP. The No. 79 Iron Lynx Mercedes completed the top 10, with all 10 cars within 1.4s of Fleming’s benchmark.

Manthey Porsche and WRT BMW entries remained outside the top 10.

Free Practice 2 is scheduled for 4pm local time, 11pm CET.

FP1

All Stats

Cla	Team	#	Drivers	Car	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h
1	FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR	51	A. Pier Guidi J. Calado A. Giovinazzi	Ferrari 499P	0	1'53.824		174.363
2	FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR	50	A. Fuoco M. Molina N. Nielsen	Ferrari 499P	0	+0.205 1'54.029	0.205	174.050
3	Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR	36	F. Makowiecki J. Gounon V. Martins	Alpine A424	0	+0.399 1'54.223	0.194	173.754
4	Toyota Racing HYPERCAR	8	S. Buemi B. Hartley R. Hirakawa	Toyota GR010 - Hybrid	0	+0.497 1'54.321	0.098	173.605
5	Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR	35	A. Felix da Costa C. Milesi F. Habsburg	Alpine A424	0	+0.512 1'54.336	0.015	173.583
6	Toyota Racing HYPERCAR	7	M. Conway K. Kobayashi N. de Vries	Toyota GR010 - Hybrid	0	+0.571 1'54.395	0.059	173.493
7	Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA HYPERCAR	38	E. Bamber S. Bourdais J. Aitken	Cadillac V-Series.R	0	+0.603 1'54.427	0.032	173.445
8	Aston Martin THOR Team HYPERCAR	009	A. Riberas M. Sorensen R. De Angelis	Aston Martin Valkyrie	0	+0.747 1'54.571	0.144	173.227
9	Genesis Magma Racing HYPERCAR	19	M. Jaminet P. Chatin D. Juncadella	Genesis GMR-001	0	+0.766 1'54.590	0.019	173.198
10	PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR	94	L. Duval M. Jakobsen T. Pourchaire	Peugeot 9X8	0	+0.880 1'54.704	0.114	173.026
11	AF Corse HYPERCAR	83	Y. Yifei R. Kubica P. Hanson	Ferrari 499P	0	+0.949 1'54.773	0.069	172.922
12	Aston Martin THOR Team HYPERCAR	007	H. Tincknell T. Gamble R. Gunn	Aston Martin Valkyrie	0	+0.510 1'54.334		173.586
13	PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR	93	P. di Resta S. Vandoorne N. Cassidy	Peugeot 9X8	0	+1.075 1'54.899	0.565	172.732
14	Genesis Magma Racing HYPERCAR	17	A. Lotterer P. Derani M. Jaubert	Genesis GMR-001	0	+1.301 1'55.125	0.226	172.393
15	BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR	15	K. Magnussen R. Marciello D. Vanthoor	BMW M Hybrid V8	0	+1.307 1'55.131	0.006	172.384
16	Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA HYPERCAR	12	W. Stevens N. Nato R. Taylor	Cadillac V-Series.R	0	+1.845 1'55.669	0.538	171.582
17	BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR	20	R. Frijns R. Rast S. Van Der Linde	BMW M Hybrid V8	0	+1.876 1'55.700	0.031	171.536
18	Garage 59 LMGT3	10	A. Au T. Fleming M. Kirchhofer	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	0	+12.192 2'06.016	10.316	157.494
19	IRON LYNX LMGT3	61	M. Berry R. Andrade M. Martin	Mercedes AMG GT3	0	+12.469 2'06.293	0.277	157.148
20	Garage 59 LMGT3	58	A. West F. Gehrsitz B. Goethe	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	0	+12.503 2'06.327	0.034	157.106
21	Vista AF Corse LMGT3	21	F. Heriau S. Mann A. Rovera	Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo	0	+12.732 2'06.556	0.229	156.822
22	Heart of Racing Team LMGT3	23	G. Newell D. Barrichello J. Adam	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3	0	+12.760 2'06.584	0.028	156.787
23	Proton Competition LMGT3	88	S. Gattuso G. Levorato L. Sargeant	Ford Mustang GT3	0	+12.954 2'06.778	0.194	156.547
24	Proton Competition LMGT3	77	E. Powell B. Tuck S. Priaulx	Ford Mustang GT3	0	+13.433 2'07.257	0.479	155.958
25	Heart of Racing Team LMGT3	27	I. James Z. Robichon M. Drudi	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3	0	+13.460 2'07.284	0.027	155.925
26	AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3	87	R. Umbrarescu C. Schmid J. Lopez	Lexus RC F GT3	0	+13.586 2'07.410	0.126	155.771
27	IRON LYNX LMGT3	79	J. Zelger M. Cressoni L. Hodenius	Mercedes AMG GT3	0	+13.580 2'07.404		155.778
28	Vista AF Corse LMGT3	54	T. Flohr F. Castellacci D. Rigon	Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo	0	+13.521 2'07.345		155.850
29	AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3	78	T. Rompuy H. David E. Masson	Lexus RC F GT3	0	+13.856 2'07.680	0.335	155.441
30	Manthey DK Engineering LMGT3	91	J. Cottingham T. Boguslavskiy A. Güven	Porsche 911 GT3 R	0	+13.999 2'07.823	0.143	155.267
31	The Bend Manthey LMGT3	92	Y. Shahin R. Pera R. Lietz	Porsche 911 GT3 R	0	+14.032 2'07.856	0.033	155.227
32	TEAM WRT LMGT3	69	A. McIntosh P. Thompson D. Harper	BMW M4 GT3 Evo	0	+14.086 2'07.910	0.054	155.162
33	TF Sport LMGT3	33	B. Keating J. Edgar N. Catsburg	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	0	+14.221 2'08.045	0.135	154.998
34	TEAM WRT LMGT3	32	D. Leung S. Gelael A. Farfus	BMW M4 GT3 Evo	0	+14.745 2'08.569	0.524	154.366
35	Racing Team Turkey by TF LMGT3	34	P. Dempsey S. Yoluc C. Eastwood	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	0	+13.952 2'07.776		155.324
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