While Formula 1 debates its regulations in conference rooms and junior championships wait for Monaco, the WEC goes straight to the point. In twelve days the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship season begins. And this Tuesday, April 14th, every Hypercar and LMGT3 team takes to the Imola circuit together for the first time in what will be the first WEC Prologue in the history of the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari.
A war in the Middle East reshuffled the calendar. Qatar was postponed. Imola became the inaugural venue. And the result is that the most narrative-rich season in years opens in the heart of Ferrari’s home country, in front of a sea of red in the grandstands.
Tuesday’s Prologue: eight hours to wake up
On Tuesday April 14th, Hypercar and LMGT3 drivers will take to the track for a total of eight hours split into two sessions, three and a half hours in the morning and four and a half in the afternoon. It is the first time in WEC history that Imola hosts the Prologue, becoming the seventh circuit to do so since the pre-season test was introduced in 2013.
For many teams this session is critical. Unlike previous years where the Prologue spanned two days with four three-hour sessions, in 2026 there is only one day of track action before competition begins. Ferrari, Toyota, Genesis, Alpine, Peugeot, BMW, Cadillac and Aston Martin will have exactly eight hours to fine-tune their cars on the demanding 4.909km layout, calibrate their Michelin tyres on the chicane kerbs and give their drivers the track time they need after months away.
Ferrari: defending champion at home
Nobody arrives at Imola with more pressure or more motivation than Ferrari. In 2025 it was the finest year in Ferrari’s endurance racing history. They won the Manufacturers’ Championship, the Drivers’ title, the three 499Ps filled the top three positions in the standings, and they claimed a third consecutive victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, including a win at Imola itself.
Antonello Coletta, Ferrari’s Global Head of Endurance, was clear ahead of the season: returning to Imola, where they also won last year, is yet another reason to give everything in front of the Italian crowd. The two factory 499Ps retain their intact driver trios: Fuoco, Molina and Nielsen in the #50, and Pier Guidi, Calado and Giovinazzi in the #51. AF Corse adds a third Ferrari with Yifei Ye in the #83. Three red cars that have won Le Mans three consecutive times. Nobody has been able to stop them yet.
Genesis: the biggest story of WEC 2026
The most important addition of this season doesn’t come from Europe or Japan. Genesis Magma Racing becomes the first non Japanese Asian manufacturer to compete in WEC Hypercar, bringing two GMR-001s built on the Oreca chassis with a 3.2-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine of rally heritage. Car #17 will be driven by André Lotterer, Pipo Derani and Mathys Jaubert. Car #19 by Mathieu Jaminet, Paul-Loup Chatin and Daniel Juncadella.
Driver Chatin was honest about expectations: they come to learn, to improve race by race and to build from scratch. But with Lotterer, an eleven-time WEC winner, behind the wheel, a surprise can never be ruled out. Tuesday’s Prologue will be the first time the world sees the GMR-001 in official circuit action. Every pair of eyes in the paddock will be on them.
The rest of the field: a 17 car Hypercar grid
Porsche Penske Motorsport withdrew from Hypercar to concentrate on IMSA, leaving the grid with 17 Hypercars spread across eight factory manufacturers. Toyota arrives with significant updates to its TR010 Hybrid. Alpine, which won for the first time at Fuji last year, arrives with António Félix da Costa and Victor Martins as new additions. Peugeot promotes Théo Pourchaire to a full race seat. Cadillac replaces Jenson Button with Jack Aitken. Aston Martin enters its second Hypercar season with the Valkyrie seeking its first podium.
In LMGT3, Manthey Racing chases the hat-trick with their Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo. Logan Sargeant makes his WEC debut in a Ford Mustang. And Valentino Rossi will not be there: the #46 disappeared from the entry list.
Full 2026 calendar
Prologue April 14 at Imola. 6 Hours of Imola April 19. 6 Hours of Spa May 9. 24 Hours of Le Mans June 13-14. 6 Hours of São Paulo July 12. Lone Star Le Mans Austin September 6. 6 Hours of Fuji September 27. Qatar 1812km October 24. 8 Hours of Bahrain November 7.
Eight races. Fourteen manufacturers. Thirty-five cars. And the question nobody has been able to answer in three years: can anyone stop Ferrari?
Sources: FIA WEC official, Ferrari official, Toyota Racing WEC official, The Race, RACER, AutoHebdo, GT Report, 24h-lemans.com, Motorsport.com, Only Endurance
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