Toyota “sad” WEC drivers’ title was effectively decided before Monza finale

Toyota says the battle for the drivers’ title was effectively decided before the Monza 6 Hours, hinting at the Balance of Performance as a contributing factor for an anticlimactic end to the 2026 World Endurance Championship.

Only Toyota’s crews remained in contention for the Hypercar title heading into last weekend’s Monza finale, after a dominant 1-2 finish in October’s Barcelona race eliminated all their rivals from the championship fight.

Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa and Sebastien Buemi led the standings in the #8 TR010 Hybrid after scoring three wins across the opening seven rounds, with a 17-point lead over the sister #7 car crewed by Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck de Vries and Mike Conway.

With only 25 points available in the season finale this year, after the original eight-hour Bahrain fixture was replaced by a standard race in Italy, the prospects of a dramatic championship showdown between the two cars were already limited.

As it turned out, however, Toyota never had the pace to run close to the front, whether in wet or dry conditions, leaving the championship all but settled in the #8 crew’s favour before the race even started.

While teams are barred from publicly speaking about the BoP under the sporting regulations, Toyota’s technical director David Floury hinted that the team’s lack of speed at Monza was out of its control.

Asked whether he knew Toyota would not be in contention at the 5.8km circuit prior to the race week, Floury said: “Yes, we did.

“It was a bit sad to come here and to think that, except for exceptional conditions or something like in Fuji where you can make a gamble and it pays off, [we had no chance]. Otherwise, the fight between our two crews was kind of going to be difficult. 

“This is a bit sad. It’s a bit sad to finish such a season with such a result.”

When asked if the Monza finale had brought an anticlimactic end to a campaign in which both Toyotas had appeared closely matched, he said: “Yeah, exactly.”

Toyota reinstated its status as the WEC’s benchmark in 2026 with the introduction of a heavily-revised LMH prototype that proved versatile across a wide variety of tracks. The car’s underlying speed was complemented by some sharp calls from the pitwall, allowing the Japanese marque to score several big results in a class where results are increasingly decided by strategy.

Toyota also returned to winning ways at the Le Mans 24 Hours this year after three straight defeats in the hands of Ferrari, while it also sealed the constructors’ title with a round to spare.

Floury said a tough result at Monza, where Toyota scored just a single point after the #007 Aston Martin was penalised for exceeding the maximum energy per stint, doesn’t take anything away from what has been a memorable year for the Cologne-based team.

“I prefer to look back at the season and be happy for every team member. Happy and proud for all of them, because they worked incredibly hard to be here today. I think we can enjoy the moment,” said Floury.

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— The Motorsport.com Team