Toyota still on top but it has a real fight on its hands after Interlagos struggles

Toyota Racing left Le Mans firmly in control of the WEC's Hypercar title races. Fast forward a month, and it has departed São Paulo with a genuine fight on its hands heading into the second half of the season.

BMW's second Hypercar victory, this time scored by the No. 15 crew of Kevin Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello and Dries Vanthoor, Ferrari's eye-catching performance with the No. 51 499P, and Toyota's first pointless weekend of the season have combined to tighten both the drivers' and manufacturers' world championship battles. Throw in TF Sport's Jonny Edgar emerging as the outright LMGT3 Drivers' Championship leader, and Interlagos already looks destined to be remembered as a pivotal weekend when the 2026 season is viewed in hindsight.

For Toyota, the warning signs had been there throughout the weekend. The TR010 HYBRID never looked like a contender around the undulating Interlagos circuit, lacking the outright pace to challenge the front-runners from the opening practice session onward. A difficult qualifying performance left both cars on the back foot, lining up 14th and 16th, and things failed to improve once the race got underway.

When the checkered flag fell, Toyota had failed to score a single point with either car for the second straight year at the event.

Nyck de Vries, driver of the No. 7 TR010, gave a blunt assessment.

"We had a very tough weekend. We lacked performance; we weren't quick enough all week and had operational mistakes at the start of the race, which put us on the back foot. From there, we were battling blue flags, which takes you out of the rhythm of the race."

On paper, it's a result that looks catastrophic, but nobody within the team will panic. The Japanese manufacturer still leads the Hypercar manufacturers' championship with 132 points, albeit now by just five over BMW on 127. Ferrari also remains firmly in contention on 88, its consistent scoring keeping it within striking distance despite its winless streak – which dates back to Le Mans last year – continuing in Brazil.

The fact Toyota escaped Interlagos still leading the standings is down to its outstanding start to the season. Victories at Imola and Le Mans laid the foundation for its title challenge, but it will need to halt the slide quickly and ensure Interlagos proves to be an anomaly rather than the start of a trend if it is to reclaim the crown, particularly with BMW carrying so much momentum.

"If you had asked me before the event if we were fighting for victory, I wouldn't have guessed it," BMW M Motorsport boss Andreas Roos told RACER. "Now we have two victories in three races and a P2. It couldn't be better at the moment. But we have to stay focused because it's so tight and the level is so high. It feels super nice.

"I won't comment too much on Toyota because we focused on ourselves. But I expected them to be in the mix because they have a very good car. I am pretty sure they will be back in the fight."

Sunday's performance from WRT was significant not simply because it delivered a second WEC victory in three races for the M Hybrid V8, but because it also allowed the No. 20's full-season pairing of René Rast and Robin Frijns to erase Toyota's advantage in the Drivers' Championship.

Their eighth-place finish, combined with victory at Spa and second place at Le Mans, moved them level on 75 points with the No. 7 Toyota trio of Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries heading into the next round at Circuit of The Americas.

BMW has momentum, while Cadillac suffered another near miss. James Moy Photography/Getty Images

Meanwhile, Ferrari's championship hopes rest primarily with reigning champions Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi, whose 57-point tally reflects a campaign built on consistency rather than the outright dominance they displayed last season. Their runner-up finish on Sunday felt especially significant. Not only did it represent a dramatic turnaround in form for the 499P at the demanding Interlagos circuit, but it also breathed new life into the No. 51 crew's title challenge.

"It's massive. It brought our championship back alive again," Calado told RACER. "Without that, it would have been difficult going forwards. The whole team expected a tough race, like last year. We don't really know or fully understand why it wasn't."

It's a result that could prove even more valuable if the current expectation that the planned 10- and eight-hour races in Qatar and Bahrain will be replaced by six-hour races at Barcelona and Monza becomes reality. Should that happen, the championship would lose two of its highest-scoring events, making every standard six-hour race even more significant.

"We've got to take it race-by-race. It's too early to think about the title, but it has put us back into contention," Calado added. "Whatever happens with the calendar, it's the same for everyone. We'll just have to do our best at each track."

Then there is Cadillac, which locked out the front row and looked poised to repeat its dominant performance from 12 months earlier. Third- and fourth-place finishes for the V-Series.Rs represented another frustrating missed opportunity after another commanding display of pace. Much like Le Mans, the speed was there, but the victory was not.

Will Stevens and Norman Nato, who share the pole-winning No. 12, now trail the championship leaders by 33 points after letting a second consecutive Interlagos victory slip away.

"First podium of the season and P4 for the sister car is a good result for the team," summarized Nato. "But we can't help but feel disappointed as we had the car and the pace with both cars to get another 1-2 here. Unfortunately, the time loss in the pitstop and small penalty for contact with another car meant the result didn't go our way. But we keep pushing, and the win will come."

The LMGT3 championship has also taken an intriguing turn.

While the No. 34 Racing Team Turkey by TF Sport Corvette claimed its first class victory of the season at Interlagos, the sister No. 33 Corvette may ultimately have left Brazil with the more important result.

Despite carrying 36 kilograms of success ballast, the crew delivered another measured points finish, allowing Jonny Edgar to move clear, on his own, at the top of the Drivers' Championship on 76 points. He now holds a four-point advantage over teammate Nicky Catsburg, while Bronze-rated driver Ben Keating remains third on 54 despite missing both Spa and Le Mans. That means TF Sport drivers occupy first, second and third in the standings, a highly unusual championship picture.

TF Sport leads a hotly contested LMGT3 class. Jakob Ebrey/Getty Images

The result also underlines just how formidable TF Sport has become with the Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R. The team now arguably boasts two genuine championship contenders, giving it enviable tactical flexibility heading into the closing stages of the campaign.

Behind Edgar and the No. 33 crew, however, the fight remains very much alive, even if it feels as though one or two challengers will need to emerge from the pack to keep the title battle alive until Bahrain.

Manthey's No. 92 Porsche drivers – Riccardo Pera, Richard Lietz and Yasser Shahin – share fourth on 49 points and also sit second in the teams' championship behind the No. 33 Corvette. Just behind them are the No. 31 WRT BMW trio of Anthony McIntosh, Daniel Harper and Parker Thompson on 43 points.

Charlie Eastwood, Peter Dempsey and Salih Yoluc are tied on the same total in the Turkish-flagged Corvette, while Ferrari's Alessio Rovera, François Heriau and Simon Mann remain within striking distance on 42 points.

McIntosh believes it will be a difficult task for anyone to reel in Edgar and the No. 33 Corvette.

"The WEC is unique because if you don't win Le Mans, it can be almost impossible to win the Championship," he told RACER.

"And with success ballast, when you win races later in the season, you're swinging everywhere. We carried it at Spa after winning Imola. We know it's tough. So I think going forward this year it's going to be about building our core team, learning and working towards next year."