The Headlines from FP1 at Qatar

• 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship official sessions begin with 90-minute free practice session in cloudy and cool conditions for Friday's opening Qatar 1812kms round.
• 36 world class entries with 13 globally recognized manufacturers and 108 ambitious drivers get set for a new season over eight rounds across five continents.
• James Calado sets the fastest lap of the first session in the No.51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P he shares with Antonio Giovinazzi and Alessandro Pier Guidi. British ace sets the quickest lap of 1m42.123s
• That time is 0.267s faster than the new-look No.38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA car driven by Sebastien Bourdais. The legendary French driver stops the clocks with a 1m42.390s best in the gold Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercar
• Completing the top three is the No.50 Ferrari AF Corse challenger driven by 2024 Le Mans victors – Nicklas Nielsen, Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina. Spaniard, Molina sets the best time on a 1m42.397s
• Brendon Hartley places fourth for Toyota Gazoo Racing in the No.8 GR010 Hybrid Hypercar as the Kiwi peaks with a. 1m42.466s. Hartley races this week in a specially painted helmet by his daughter!
• BMW M Team WRT takes fifth as Dries Vanthoor posts best lap on the final tour of the session in the No.15 V8 Hypercar
• That time knocks the No.12 Cadillac back to sixth as Will Stevens posts time. The 2023 LMP2 champion shares this car with Norman Nato and Alex Lynn this season
• The rest of the top 10 sees reigning champions Laurens Vanthoor and Kevin Estre place seventh with new for 2025 teammate Matt Campbell; No.20 BMW eighth; No.83 AF Corse ninth and No.35 Alpine in 10 ^th position to ensure six manufacturers are represented in to the Top 10 places
• The Aston Martin THOR team ends the session 17 ^th and 18 ^th with the No.009 stopping on track earlier in session with a so far unspecified problem

LMGT3

•  Akkodis ASP head the first LMGT3 session of the new season as new recruit Ben Barnicoat sets the category pace with a lap of 1m55.623s
• That effort by Barnicoat is just 0.113s ahead of the No.33 TF Sport Corvette as Daniel Juncadella sets the best lap in the car he shares with WEC LMGTE Am champion Ben Keating and reigning ELMS champion Johnny Edgar.
• TF Sport places ultra-competitive 2-3 in the session as the No.81 because of Rui Andrade, Charlie Eastwood and Tom van Roumpuy sits third. Eastwood accomplishes the time of 1m55.820s
• BMW starts the season off strongly as the No.31 The Bend Team WRT entry is fourth with Augusto Farfus stops the clocks on 1m55.940s
• Fifth is the second of the Akkodis ASP Lexus entries as WEC champion and Le Mans winner Jose-Maria Lopez achieves a time of 1m56.016s
• Completing the top six is ​​the new for 2025 No.10 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin with Valentin Haase Clot at the wheel. He shares the cockpit with Derek Deboer and Eduardo Barrichello, son of former Ferrari and Williams F1 driver Rubens Barrichello.
• The new Iron Lynx Mercedes do not take part in the session as they continue to prepare for their first ever WEC campaign with a pair of Mercedes AMG LMGT3 cars this season.

The second free practice session starts at 16.50 local time this afternoon

Times from FP1 HERE