Kevin Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello and Dries Vanthoor beat Ferrari and Cadillac at Interlagos to secure their first WEC overall victories.
BMW converts pace into victory
BMW M Team WRT captured the 2026 6 Hours of São Paulo, with the No. 15 BMW M Hybrid V8 coming out on top in a tight Hypercar battle at Interlagos. Kevin Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello and Dries Vanthoor covered 242 laps, finishing 2.254 seconds ahead of the No. 51 Ferrari AF Corse entry.
It was BMW’s second win of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship campaign. Magnussen, Marciello and Vanthoor each earned a first WEC overall victory, while the No. 15 became the first winner of the Brazilian WEC round to start outside the front row.
Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA had swept the front row in Hyperpole. Will Stevens took pole in the No. 12 Cadillac V-Series. R, ahead of the sister No. 38.
Magnussen broke up Cadillac’s control immediately, taking second before passing Earl Bamber at Ferradura on lap 11 and setting off after Stevens. That forceful start left BMW ready to capitalize when the first pit-stop sequence reshuffled the order. A wheel-nut delay slowed the pole-sitting No. 12 Cadillac, handing the No. 15 BMW a net lead that it retained through the key strategic exchanges.
Strategy decides the Ferrari fight
BMW faced a complicated route to the flag. Alpine moved its cars ahead on track through short-fuelling, though the No. 15 kept the better net position. During the fourth hour, Marciello closed on the No. 35 Alpine and reclaimed the place when the Alpine pitted.
The No. 51 Ferrari 499P soon became BMW’s main threat. Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi worked forward from outside the leading starting positions, avoiding the penalties that affected others. By the second half, Ferrari was fighting directly for the win.
With around two hours left, Calado hit the wall at pit exit and picked up an advertising panel across the Ferrari’s front. It stayed attached for a stint before the crew removed it at the next scheduled stop. The No. 51 avoided overheating and kept chasing victory.
Vanthoor ran wide in the penultimate hour, briefly giving Calado the advantage.
Fuel strategy swung the race back toward BMW. The No. 15 ran longer and needed less fuel at its final stop, allowing Vanthoor to return ahead for the closing run. Although he felt unwell, Vanthoor delivered a controlled final stint. Light rain fell late without becoming heavy enough for wet-weather tyres, and he held off Calado after six hours of racing.
Ferrari and Cadillac complete a close podium
The podium fight stayed close to the flag. Ferrari’s No. 51 finished 2.254 seconds behind BMW, while the No. 12 Cadillac shared by Stevens, Norman Nato and Louis Delétraz recovered to take third, 6.687 seconds behind the winner. All three cars were covered by less than seven seconds.
Cadillac’s qualifying speed carried into the No. 12’s recovery, but its first-stop delay was too damaging in a race without any Safety Car periods to wipe out gaps.
The No. 38 Cadillac of Bamber, Sébastien Bourdais and Jack Aitken placed fourth, 12.666 seconds behind BMW. AF Corse’s No. 83 Ferrari followed in fifth with Yifei Ye, Robert Kubica and Phil Hanson.
The No. 007 Aston Martin Valkyrie took sixth, ahead of the No. 50 Ferrari and BMW M Team WRT’s second entry, the No. 20. Just 0.095 seconds split those two cars at the finish. The No. 009 Aston Martin was ninth, with the No. 35 Alpine completing the top 10.
Eleven Hypercars finished on the lead lap, making every delay costly.
A largely uninterrupted six hours
Almost 85,000 fans attended at Interlagos, where clean execution carried extra weight. A brief Full Course Yellow in the second hour provided the race’s only interruption, and all 35 starters made it to the finish.
Without a long neutralisation, teams had little chance to recover from pit delays, penalties or incidents.
BMW stayed clear of major trouble, combined front-running pace with efficient strategy, and retained enough flexibility to respond to Ferrari late. Magnussen’s early attack put the No. 15 into contention before Marciello maintained its challenge through the middle portion of the race. Vanthoor then used the team’s fuel advantage to withstand the late pressure. Across five pit stops, BMW M Team WRT produced the afternoon’s most complete performance.
Title fight tightens after São Paulo
BMW’s second victory in three races improved its standing in the 2026 Hypercar contest with four rounds left. The result came after the No. 20 crew’s earlier win at Imola and delivered another major reward for the marque’s strong mid-season form.
Ferrari’s runner-up finish and Cadillac’s two top-four results ensured BMW never had a comfortable margin in Brazil. The small gaps at the front showed that three manufacturers still had a chance to win during the final hour.
The WEC travels next to the Lone Star Le Mans. Interlagos showed that outright speed mattered, while BMW’s aggression, reliability and final-stop efficiency separated the No. 15 from Ferrari and Cadillac.
