Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa have won the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship drivers’ title after a difficult wet weekend at Monza. Toyota Racing had already won the manufacturers’ crown in Barcelona last month, so the team ends its first season under the new name with both world titles. The race was also Mike Conway’s last before retirement.

An internal fight for the drivers’ crown

The eighth and final round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) settled the last open title. Only Toyota Racing’s own two crews were still in the drivers’ championship fight when the 6 Hours of Monza began.

The #8 TR010 HYBRID of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa went into the race with the points lead. The #7 crew of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries won Le Mans this year, but they arrived 17 points behind. Neither car could challenge at the front. The #8 finished 11th and the #7 came home 12th, which was enough to give the title to the #8 trio.

It is the third world title the #8 crew have won together, and they won three races this season. Buemi and Hartley now have five World Championship crowns each, and Hirakawa has three.

“Not winning Le Mans with car #8 was hard but winning the drivers’ World Championship makes up for it.” – Sébastien Buemi

Little dry running to work with

The weekend was hard on the team. Qualifying was the only session held in the dry, so the engineers had little data for race set-up and strategy. The #8 started 14th and the #7 started 17th.

Both cars moved up through the field towards the points during a race that had four safety car periods. The TR010 HYBRIDs stayed out of trouble until the last 90 minutes. Then the #7 damaged its bodywork in contact with a Ford LMGT3 at the first chicane. A few laps later, at the same corner, Kobayashi was hit from behind by the #17 Genesis. Both Toyotas still reached the chequered flag as the sun went down over the circuit known as the Temple of Speed.

A farewell for Mike Conway

The team says 75,181 spectators attended over the weekend. Conway started the race, his last before he retires. He joined the team in 2014 and has raced for it for 12 seasons, winning 20 races and two titles.

“It was the last race for me, and it’s a nice feeling, honestly,” Conway said. “It’s been amazing working with the team for all these years and I’ll miss everybody.”

Two titles in the TR010 HYBRID’s first season

The 2026 season was the TR010 HYBRID’s first. The car won four races and took seven podiums, including victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours and at Toyota’s home race at Fuji Speedway. The manufacturers’ title was decided at the penultimate round in Barcelona. The Monza result now adds the drivers’ crown.

The team returned to the WEC in 2012 and has since won eight manufacturers’ titles and seven drivers’ titles.

Kobayashi is both team principal and a driver of the #7 car. He said the team took a slightly different approach this year: “We didn’t change much internally but we started with a little bit of a different approach and, now at the end of the season, we can say it was really positive.”

Hirakawa thinks this may be the team’s best season so far: “For TOYOTA RACING to win Le Mans and both World Championships is a massive achievement, maybe this team’s biggest yet.”

Hartley spoke about how the #8 crew recovered after losing at Le Mans: “All three of us on #8 had mixed emotions after Le Mans but I am really proud of how we fought back over the second half of the season, because we were really strong.”

Facts: Toyota Racing’s 2026 WEC season

  • Car: TR010 HYBRID (first season)
  • Wins: 4, including the Le Mans 24 Hours and Fuji Speedway
  • Podiums: 7
  • Manufacturers’ title: won at the penultimate round in Barcelona
  • Drivers’ title: Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, Ryō Hirakawa (#8)
  • Monza result: #8 11th (started 14th), #7 12th (started 17th)
  • Titles since the 2012 WEC return: 8 manufacturers’, 7 drivers’

That was the last round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship.

Source: newsroom.toyota.eu