Rain and changing track conditions greeted Toyota Racing as practice began for the 6 Hours of Monza, the eighth and final round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship. With the manufacturers’ title already won, the team’s two TR010 Hybrid crews go into Sunday’s race fighting each other for the drivers’ crown. Both cars ended Friday outside the top ten.

Toyota Racing arrives at the season finale in Italy with one championship already won. The team clinched the manufacturers’ title with a one-two victory in Barcelona last month. According to the team, the drivers’ World Championship will also go to one of its two crews when the 6 Hours of Monza is decided on Sunday.

Title maths between team-mates

Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa hold the advantage in the #8 TR010 Hybrid. They lead by 17 points and will be sure of the title if they finish the race in the top five.

The #7 crew of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries, who won Le Mans this year, faces a harder task. To take the crown they need to finish in the top two and also need their team-mates to have a bad day.

On Friday the #8 was 12th fastest overall. The #7 ended the day in 17th.

Rain and red flags in first practice

First practice ran in steady rain with air temperatures of about 10°C (50°F). The session was halted by three red flags, and Toyota spent it working on mechanical and aerodynamic set-up.

Hirakawa set the #8’s best lap and the car finished the session 11th. He returned to the WEC after scoring points on his Formula 1 race debut at the Mexican Grand Prix. Kobayashi’s fastest lap put the #7 in 14th.

Monza is known as the Temple of Speed because of its long straights. Between sessions, engineers used the data from first practice to tune the cars for the circuit. As well as high top speeds, the track puts heavy loads on brakes and suspension in its slower chicanes.

Slick tyres in the closing minutes

The rain carried on into the afternoon but stopped early in second practice. The session ran without problems, and the track dried enough for slick tyres in the final 15 minutes. A late lap from Hirakawa put the #8 12th. Conway also set his best time as the track dried, and the #7 finished 17th. Monza is Conway’s last WEC event before he retires.

“It was a clean day of running but I wouldn’t say we are feeling fully sorted for a dry race. Some of our competitors have tested here and look to be a step ahead. We are lacking a bit of pace so hopefully we get some dry running tomorrow before the race to work on that.” — Brendon Hartley, #8

Buemi pointed out how much the circuit has changed since the series last raced there: “It’s nice to be back at Monza. It has changed a lot since we last raced here in 2023, with new asphalt and new kerbs. We suffered a bit in the wet today but it’s good learning because we still don’t have much experience with these wet tyres. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”

Kobayashi, who is both team principal and a driver in the #7, was frank about Friday: “They were difficult conditions for us, and we seem to be lacking a bit of pace. So it’s a disappointing start but we still have one more practice session to go in the morning and we will do our best to find more performance.”

De Vries regretted the lack of dry running: “Obviously conditions were challenging, especially in first practice. It’s a pity we haven’t been able to do proper laps in the dry. We’re expecting the race to be dry, so it would have been nice to have a better read on where we are ahead of the race.”

Hirakawa was more upbeat: “It was tricky, especially the first session when there was a lot of water on track. We optimised the car for FP2, which gave us slightly better pace and a better feeling in the car. I am happy with the work we did. We have built a bit of positive momentum, but the leading cars are quite fast. We’ll just focus on what we can do for qualifying tomorrow.”

What it means

Friday’s wet running told the team little about dry pace, and the forecast is for a dry race. That makes Saturday’s final practice important. Both crews and Hartley say rivals that tested at Monza look stronger for now, so the #8’s 17-point lead and its top-five target may matter more than outright speed on Sunday.

At a glance: Toyota on Friday at Monza

  • FP1: #8 11th (Hirakawa), #7 14th (Kobayashi)
  • FP2: #8 12th (Hirakawa), #7 17th (Conway)
  • Conditions: rain, around 10°C (50°F), three red flags in FP1; slicks fitted for final 15 minutes of FP2
  • Championship: #8 crew leads by 17 points; a top-five finish secures the title

The rain risk is lower for Saturday, which starts with final practice in the morning, followed by qualifying and Hyperpole for the Hypercars at 3pm. The 6 Hours of Monza starts at 11am CET on Sunday, with dry weather forecast.

Source: newsroom.toyota.eu