AF Corse names unchanged line-up for 2026 WEC campaign

AF Corse’s 2025 Le Mans-winning Hypercar crew are set to return in 2026, aiming to defend their victory at La Sarthe and push for a World Championship title.

Ye Yifei was previously confirmed when the first provisional WEC entry list was released. Now AF Corse has confirmed that Robert Kubica will return along with newly-minted Ferrari factory driver Phil Hanson in the No. 83 499P.

For Kubica and Ye, this will be their third consecutive season at the wheel of the Giallo Modena 499P, while Hanson will spend a second season with the team following his move from Hertz Team JOTA after 2024.

Kubica’s return to AF Corse was far from certain, with the Polish racer having not committed to the team when the FIA WEC paddock departed Bahrain at the end of last year. The Italian outfit has now, however, announced that he will return to its line-up for the forthcoming campaign.

Kubica made his full-time FIA WEC debut in 2022, following a partial campaign the year prior, and went on to win the 2023 LMP2 drivers’ championship with Team WRT before making the switch to Hypercar with AF Corse in 2024. His first outright victory came at that year’s Lone Star Le Mans event at COTA, his only Hypercar win outside of the 2025 Le Mans 24 Hours to date.

This is the sixth consecutive year that the Le Mans-winning line-up has stayed together for the following FIA WEC campaign. Notably, none have managed to successfully defend their victory at the race during this time.

In addition to winning a second straight Le Mans 24 Hours, the No. 83 crew will look to go one better in the championship standings after they finished second in the title race last season.

The 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship will begin with the Qatar 1812KM from 26th to 28th March 2026.