The Balance of Performance graph essentially tells the entire story: the BMW M Hybrid V8 stagnated during the 2025 World Endurance Championship. A very strong start to the season was followed by a bitter Le Mans and a disappointing second half of the year.
In its second season in the Hypercar class, WRT’s goal was to score at least one win. That target was not achieved, leaving BMW (and Acura, which is not entered in the WEC) as the only LMDh manufacturer yet to achieve a Hypercar victory.
It is particularly frustrating as Cadillac and Alpine both secured their breakthrough victories during the season. After the first races, BMW looked most likely among the three manufacturers to achieve this milestone first.
BMW started the season in Qatar with the third-best power-to-weight ratio of 2.053kg/kW in the critical sub-250km/h range; only Cadillac and Peugeot had a favourable BoP. While Team WRT benefited from the intra-team Cadillac collision, the #15 car was delayed early on by a mysterious problem that sorted itself out.
After the final Safety Car, however, the #15 BMW matched the pace of the superior Ferrari 499Ps, finishing just ten seconds behind the winner and ten seconds ahead of the rest of the field.
Despite this strong performance, BMW received a slightly better BoP of 2.031kg/kW for Imola. Once again, both BMWs were fighting at the front.
In the strategic chess match, it was the #20 car that came out on top, securing second place, while the #15 finished sixth. At that point, no one would have even thought about the #15 failing to score another single-digit result for the remainder of the season.
It seemed BMW had made its breakthrough. Following these strong performances, it received a less favourable BoP of 2.085 kg/kW for Spa-Francorchamps, though only Cadillac, Alpine, and Aston Martin were rated better in direct comparison.
The BMW M Hybrid V8 remained competitive in Belgium. It could have very well been the program’s first WEC win, but the #20 retired with brake problems after a hard-fought battle for the lead.
The Downward spiral from Le Mans onwards
Following this promising start on three completely different types of tracks, BMW was even considered a dark horse for the win at Le Mans.
Below 250km/h, BMW was given a power-to-weight ratio of 2.037kg/kW, identical to Porsche and thus the second-worst behind Peugeot.
In exchange, the M Hybrid V8, along with Aston Martin, received the most favorable power-to-weight ratio above 250km/h at 1.997kg/kW—a metric that is uniquely decisive at Le Mans. Grid positions four and six further fueled hopes for a good result.