The #8 Toyota TR010 crew of Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa hold a sizeable advantage over the #7 line-up of Mike Conway, Nyck de Vries and Kamui Kobayashi, as the 2026 World Endurance Championship concludes this weekend with the 6 Hours of Monza..
The only title already secured is the Hypercar manufacturers’ crown, with Toyota Racing having wrapped up the championship thanks to its one-two finish in Barcelona.
However, the battle between the two TR010 Hybrids for the Hypercar drivers’ title is still ongoing. Hartley, Hirakawa and Buemi currently lead the standings on 114 points, giving them a 17-point advantage over their team-mates Kobayashi, Conway and de Vries, who are chasing them on 97 points.
As the Monza race is a six-hour event, points will be awarded on the usual 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 scale, with an additional point available in qualifying for the Hyperpole winner. That means a maximum of 26 points are up for grabs.
With that in mind, the situation looks relatively straightforward for the leading trio. Even if they finish level on points with their team-mates, they hold the advantage on countback, having scored three victories so far (Imola, Fuji and Barcelona) compared with the #7 crew’s one (Le Mans). As a result, as few as eight points could be enough for the #8 crew to lift the trophy on Sunday evening.
Here are all the possible outcomes in this all-Toyota battle for the title.
#8 Toyota (114 points) wins the title if…
- They win and take pole (140 points)
- They win (139)
- They finish second and take pole (133)
- They finish second (132)
- They finish third and take pole (130)
- They finish third (129)
- They finish fourth and take pole (127)
- They finish fourth (126)
- They finish fifth and take pole (125)
- They finish fifth (124)
- They finish sixth and take pole (123)
- They finish sixth (122), if the #7 wins without taking pole
- They finish seventh and take pole (121), provided the #7 does not win
- They finish seventh (120), provided the #7 does not win
- They finish eighth and take pole (119), provided the #7 does not win
- They finish eighth (118), provided the #7 does not win
- They finish ninth and take pole (117), provided the #7 does not win
- They finish ninth (116), provided the #7 does not win
- They finish 10th and take pole (116), provided the #7 does not win
- They finish 10th (115), provided the #7 doesn’t win after scoring pole
- They take pole (115) but don’t score in the race, provided the #7 doesn’t win
- They score no points, provided the #7 does not finish first or second
#7 Toyota (97 points) wins the title if
#8 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota TR010: Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa
Photo by: JEP
- They win and take pole (123 points), provided the #8 finishes sixth or lower
- They win (122), provided the #8 finishes seventh or lower, with or without Hyperpole
- They finish second and take pole (116), provided the #8 finishes 10th or scores only the Hyperpole point
- They finish second (115), provided the #8 scores no points in either qualifying or the race
Summary
The #7 Toyota needs to finish at least second to have any chance of winning the title. Meanwhile, the #8 Toyota is guaranteed of the title as long as it finishes inside the top five.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
— The Motorsport.com Team