Antonio Giovinazzi led a resurgent AF Corse Ferrari 1-2 in incident-filled WEC Imola FP3 while Peugeot clinched third.
The third and final Free Practice session ahead of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of Imola began at 10:40 CEST on Saturday with teams eager to maximize their final opportunity for setup refinement before qualifying.
From the outset of Imola FP3 the atmosphere was electric with an AF Corse Ferrari 1-2 home advantage palpable in the grandstands following their dominance in previous sessions.
Antonio Giovinazzi piloting the #51 Ferrari 499P immediately stamped his authority with a 1:30.272 which remained unmatched throughout the session. His lap was a mere 0.063 seconds quicker than his teammate Antonio Fuoco in the sister #50 499P, underlining the razor-thin margins at the top.
The two Ferraris ran like clockwork throughout the session, executing their run plans with precision and demonstrating remarkable consistency in both outright pace and long-run performance.
Meanwhile, Peugeot TotalEnergies emerged as the closest challenger with Stoffel Vandoorne steering the #94 Peugeot 9X8 to third overall. Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA also made their presence felt with Earl Bamber, Sébastien Bourdais, and Jenson Button guiding the #38 Cadillac to fourth place.
Toyota Gazoo Racing, a perennial powerhouse in the WEC, found themselves fifth fastest with the #8 car driven by Ryō Hirakawa. However, they were handed a five-minute stop-and-hold penalty late in the session for a FCY procedure infraction.
It was a mixed session particularly for the JOTA Cadillac team, with two consecutive red flags for two different incidents followed by a full-course yellow.
Alex Lynn was only five minutes into the 60-minute session when he hit the bump on approach and momentarily lost the rear of his #12 JOTA Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercar (on cold tires), forcing him to slide onto the grass and gravel before slamming the barrier at Turn 17.
While Lynn exited the car unharmed, the incident triggered a 10-minute red flag as Marshals rushed to retrieve the damaged Cadillac while clearing debris from the track.
Imola FP3 later saw a second red flag after Robert Kubica’s #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P abruptly suffered engine problems and had to stop his car at the side of T10. At the same time Iron Dames’ Celia Martin spun her #85 Porsche 911 GT3.R at T2 before resuming her run.
The session resumed with 33 minutes on the clock but it wasn’t long before Sebastien Bourdais’ #38 JOTA Cadillac got trapped in the gravel trap for the second time, causing a full-course yellow.
While Bourdais was subsequently freed and proceeded his drive, stewards later penalised the #38 for FCY procedures with a five-minute stop-and-go penalty, as they did with the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid.
There were numerous other off-course excursions that did not result in any stoppages, including ones for Stoffel Vandoorne and Marco Sorensen in the #94 Peugeot 9X8 and #009 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Valkyrie, respectively.
MORE WEC:
WEC Imola FP2: Giovinazzi and Vanthoor set identical times for Ferrari and BMW
WEC Imola 2025: Robert Kubica leads Ferrari 1-2 in FP1
Masson’s Akkodis ASP Lexus fastest in LMGT3
The LMGT3 class provided its own share of excitement in Imola FP3 with Esteban Masson starring in the #78 Akkodis ASP Lexus.
Masson’s best lap of 1:42.852 put him 0.206 seconds clear of Alessio Rovera in the #21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari, while Simon Mann in the #54 AF Corse Ferrari rounded out the top three, 0.349 seconds off the lead.
WRT’s #31 BMW M4 LMGT3 Evo driver Augusto Farfus finished in fourth after he set a 1:43.259, followed by the other #87 Akkodis ASP Lexus.
Throughout the session, track limits continued to be a challenge for many drivers, with several lap times deleted for exceeding the boundaries in the fast and flowing sections of Imola. This forced teams to adjust their approach, emphasizing precision and discipline in the hunt for lap time.
The threat of penalties in both qualifying and the race added an extra layer of complexity, particularly in the Hypercar class where every tenth of a second counts.
