- McLaren GT3 EVO claims historic 1-2 in qualifying for second consecutive FIA WEC event
- United Autosports drivers Darren Leung and Sean Gelael secure pole position on their McLaren debut
- Both McLaren GT3 EVO cars battle for the win throughout 10-hour race
- Number 59 car of James Cottingham, Sébastien Baud and Grégoire Saucy secure highest finishing position so far with second following thrilling race finish
McLaren Automotive set new records during qualifying for the opening round of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship. After securing the first front row lock out for a manufacturer in the LMGT3 era in Bahrain last year, Racing Partner United Autosports repeated the feat in Qatar to claim McLaren’s third WEC pole position. McLaren has now claimed one third of the pole positions on offer since the LMGT3 class began in 2024.
Both cars got a clean start to the 1812km event and easily held their own in the top three of the field. James Cottingham worked his way past Darren Leung in the number 95 car in the first hour, comfortably holding the lead for the majority of his quadruple stint behind the wheel of the #59 McLaren GT3 EVO.
Following the driver change stops at the start of the fourth hour of racing, the cars were running first and second, the #59 in front until Seb Baud dropped back, allowing pole winner Sean Gelael to take the lead of the race. From there the #95 would rarely be headed until they received a drive through penalty for a pit stop infringement, dropping them to seventh at the flag.
In the #59 car, Grégoire Saucy resumed the challenge for victory. With 30 minutes of the 10-hour race remaining he closed the gap on the leader to less than a second, pressuring until the end, but was unable to find a gap or force his rival into an error. Saucy finished just 0.493 seconds in arrears, to take second place and McLaren’s best finish so far in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
“It has been an exceptionally strong season opener in Qatar, and one that we are very proud of. We have two cars that have instantly established themselves as front runners and we’ve secured our first podium of the season – huge congratulations to James, Gregoire, Seb and the #59 crew. Second place in the world championship is a massive achievement. The #95 crew also had a stellar week with P1 in Qualifying for Darren, pole position for Sean and top work as usual from Marino. Sadly, their race didn’t end the way we had hoped but Imola is just a few weeks away and we will be there with the same race-winning ambitions.”
Richard Dean, CEO, United Autosports
“The last twenty minutes of the race had us all on the edge of our seats as Grégoire pressured the leader and came so close to taking the win. Of course, Darren and Sean did very well to take pole position on their McLaren debut as well, so there’s a lot to celebrate in Qatar.
We were quick all weekend. It really is a testament to all the hard work done by the engineering team in Woking and everyone at United Autosports over the winter that we have been able to perform straight away. You must score in every race to win championships, and we are certainly off to a very good start.”
Ian James, Director of Motorsport, McLaren Automotive
Round two of the FIA WEC takes place at the Imola circuit in Italy on April 20.