17/04/2026

“We don’t fully understand the car yet”

Following the postponement of the Qatar 1812km, the 2026 World Endurance Championship season gets underway at Imola. It was at the Italian circuit that factory BMW driver Robin Frijns secured his best Hypercar result in 2025, finishing second.

During this week’s Prologue — also held at Imola due to the war in the Middle East — the updated BMW M V8 Hybrid showed strong pace with the fourth-fastest time.

However, the first two years of BMW’s Hypercar project in the WEC have not been easy, particularly as the team struggled during the second half of the 2025 season. In an interview with Motorsport.com, Frijns described his first two years with the team as “not that great”.

“You don’t expect to be fighting at the front straight away in the first year,” Frijns reflected. “But we did make good progress in that first season. Towards the end of the year, we were fairly competitive, although we also had issues, like in Bahrain, where we were running fourth before a turbo problem.

“The following year, we actually started quite strongly. But then we dropped off a bit, which was disappointing. Everyone keeps developing, but I feel like we sometimes stand still a bit too much,” the 34-year-old said, pointing out an area for improvement for the German manufacturer.

Frijns looks back on his first two years with BMW in the WEC with mixed feelings.

Photo by: Andreas Beil

Searching for answers

This year, BMW has introduced an Evo update in the hope of unlocking more performance, although it remains to be seen in Imola whether it delivers the desired results. The team looked “quite good” at the Daytona 24 Hours — the opening round of the IMSA championship — according to Frijns, but the 12 Hours of Sebring showed there is still more to gain.

“I feel like we don’t fully understand the car yet,” said Frijns. “And where we need to improve it. It’s a complex machine, but I’m here to fight at the front and win races. That hasn’t really been the case so far.”

Asked further about the difficulty in identifying the car’s issues, Frijns admitted it is a “tricky” matter.

“It’s not a simple game,” he said. “If we’re slow, it’s not just a case of ‘we have a problem, we fix it’. If it were that easy, everyone would do it. It’s a complex puzzle, so it’s not easy to pinpoint exactly where we need to improve.”

Improving race pace

With the updated M V8 Hybrid, BMW has also made significant aerodynamic changes to its LMDh car. Frijns explained that the main focus has been on improving race performance.

“The car was reasonably okay in qualifying, but we often dropped back in the races. That’s what we’ve tried to fix,” he said. “So, I don’t really expect us to have the same qualifying performance as last year, but I do hope we’ll be stronger in terms of race pace.”

Despite the work done on the car, Frijns knows expectations remain high, including from himself. He says he is always trying “to learn more” about how the car works.

“You always try to improve the situation you’re in and develop yourself as well. You never drive a perfect lap in your life. You have to make the most of what you’ve got.”

A difficult challenge

Frijns hoopt dat BMW dit jaar constanter vooraan mee kan doen om podiumplaatsen.

Frijns hopes that BMW can compete more consistently at the front for podium finishes this year.

Photo by: James Moy Photography via Getty Images

Frijns does take some confidence from last year’s second place at Imola, although there are still many question marks over this year’s Hypercar performance, especially with several manufacturers introducing updates.

“I hope it will be the same [as last year],” he laughed, adding that the result was not just down to luck, but also BMW’s strategy. “We really want to fight for multiple podiums. Over the last two years, we’ve scored two podiums in WEC. We definitely want to build on that and achieve more.”

Frijns is clear about his goals and expectations for the season.

“I go into every race weekend aiming for the podium and to win,” he said. “But you also have to be realistic — after the first two practice sessions, you know roughly where you stand. If you start the weekend in the top five, you have a chance of a good result. If you’re not in the top ten, it’s going to be very difficult.”