Hartley, Hirakawa and Buemi: the #8 Toyota that won the 2026 WEC title at Monza

The #8 Toyota of Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa and Sébastien Buemi, seen here at Monza, is the 2026 FIA WEC Hypercar world champion: tenth place on Sunday was enough.

Full race result and both classes: WEC Monza 2026 results

Tenth place was enough for a fifth title

The finale itself belonged to Cadillac. The #38 Hertz Team JOTA car of Jack Aitken, Sébastien Bourdais and Earl Bamber won by 5.607 seconds from the #36 Alpine, with the #51 Ferrari third. The #007 Aston Martin took the chequered flag third, but two post-race penalties dropped it to 12th in the final classification.

Toyota had a quiet afternoon. The #8 is classified tenth, a lap down, with the sister #7 of Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries one place behind. Tenth was worth one point and the #7 scored none, so Hartley, Hirakawa and Buemi end the season on 115 points, 18 clear of the #7 on 97, according to the official FIA WEC standings. Toyota had already secured the manufacturers’ title before Monza and finish on 215 points, ahead of BMW on 172.

For Hartley and Buemi it is a fifth drivers’ title each, the FIA WEC confirmed after the race. Hirakawa shared the 2022 and 2023 crowns with the same two team-mates. His week has been remarkable: he arrived at Monza days after his Formula 1 race debut for Haas in Mexico City.

“What an amazing season for everyone”

Hartley summed up the day in the official FIA WEC race report: “We didn’t have the pace for a win today, but what an amazing season for everyone!” He added: “We didn’t get Le Mans, but we had our target to fight back for the Drivers’ championship.”

That line explains the title. This was not a championship won with a last-lap pass, but one built over eight rounds.

In LMGT3, Jonny Edgar took the title in the #33 TF Sport Corvette, four points ahead of team-mate Nicky Catsburg. The race report from trackside by Rick Kiewiet tells how the six hours unfolded: WEC Monza 2026 race report.

Our take

Winning a world title in tenth place looks odd on paper, but endurance racing rewards the crew that is there every time. The #8 trio were the most complete line-up of 2026, and Monza only confirmed it. The bigger question is whether Toyota can turn this consistency into the Le Mans win Hartley still misses.

The final tables are on our FIA WEC standings 2026 page, the weekend’s schedule and starting grid are still online, and the season starts again in Qatar on 27 March: FIA WEC calendar 2027.

Sources: FIA WEC final classification and standings (fiawec.com, Al Kamel timing, checked 11 November 2026), FIA WEC race report “Cadillac victorious at Monza as #8 Toyota clinches Drivers’ crown”. Photo: Rick Kiewiet.

Will Hartley, Hirakawa and Buemi defend this title in 2027, or does the #7 crew strike back? Tell us in the comments.