United Autosports and McLaren Automotive came out swinging at the opening round of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship in Qatar this week. The team topped the timesheets in FP3, added a second front row lock out to their LMGT3 track record – making WEC history in the process – collectively led 108 of 287 laps on race day, and celebrated second place on the podium at Lusail International Circuit with just 0.493 seconds between the #59 crew and victory.
On Thursday afternoon, FIA Bronze-graded drivers Darren Leung (#95) and James Cottingham (#59) posted P1 and P3 respectively in the 12-minute LMGT3 Qualifying session, putting both McLarens through to the first Hyperpole shootout of the year. As per the new regulations, the Silver drivers then took over, with 10 minutes to set the top 10 on the grid. Sean Gelael stormed to pole position in the #95 McLaren, followed by Sebastien Baud (#59) in second place – securing a second consecutive WEC front row lock out for United Autosports and setting history as the first LMGT3 team to do so
On race day, the McLaren duo led from the front with EDGE driver Cottingham (#59) and Leung (#95) both kicking off proceedings with a triple stint – successfully completing their drive time in one go with the help of an early Safety Car.
The papaya and black duo largely stayed out of trouble as the race surged on, carefully managing tyres, fuel and energy to bank strategic gains for the final throes. The #95 crew of Leung, Gelael and Marino Sato had a dominant run, leading almost one third of the laps (87 of 286 laps) and looking sure for a strong result. The turning point, sadly, came with little over an hour left on the clock, when a drive through penalty for a pit stop infringement dropped the race leaders down the ranks, ultimately crossing the line P7 – an unrepresentative result, following an impressive weekend.
In the sister #59, Sebastien Baud showed strong pace while managing the tyres, delivering the car to Gregoire Saucy who went hunting for victory in the final hour. The Swiss driver raced nose to tail with the leading #33 LMGT3 in an exhilarating dash to the line. As midnight struck at Lusail International Circuit, Saucy took second place with less than half a second in it, securing his debut WEC podium (the same for co-driver Cottingham), and the team’s best WEC LMGT3 result to date.
Round two of the FIA WEC is the 6 Hours of Imola on 20th April.
James Cottingham: “I’ve said a number of times since we got to Qatar that I feel like we could hit the ground running. The efforts that have been put in by the United Autosports team over the winter have been translated into a podium that is well-deserved at long last for the #59 car! I couldn’t be happier. Super close to the race win, and we had a teeny bit of bad luck with a gear box malfunction in the race which lost us 40 seconds. Without that, undoubtably we could have been on the top step of the podium. But we have seven more rounds and I am confident that you will see McLaren on the podium at multiple points during the season going forward … which is where the team should be! Very pleased.”