Ranking drivers in endurance racing is always an uncomfortable exercise. Stints are shared, roles are specialised, and context matters more than raw results. Some drivers qualify, some start, others manage tyres and fuel when it matters most. All of that inevitably shapes perception.

Add to that a combined IMSA–WEC grid of more than 50 Hypercar/GTP drivers, and tough decisions become unavoidable. In several cases, separating team-mates felt artificial, so they are treated as pairings. In others, a single point-less weekend — in a season of just eight or nine races — was enough to knock a name out of contention.

There is also the reality of underwhelming campaigns. Toyota and BMW fall into that category. Leaving Sébastien Buemi out feels almost wrong, given his status as the discipline’s benchmarks over the past decade. But even accounting for factors beyond his control, 2025 marked the first time since 2015 - and only the second time in 12 full WEC campaigns - that the Swiss driver finished a season without a single victory.

Nick Tandy is another uncomfortable omission. His Daytona 24 Hours win in January made him the first driver ever to conquer all four major 24-hour races, and he added Sebring 12 Hours soon after. But from round four onwards, he and Felipe Nasr never managed to beat their sister Porsche.

Robert Kubica

Ferrari

Few performances in modern endurance racing carry the symbolic weight of Kubica’s Le Mans victory. He drove almost the entirety the final 3h30, overall covering 166 laps - 43% of the car’s race - and, crucially, pushed back against team orders to put the privately-entered AF Corse Ferrari #83 in position to beat the two factory 499Ps.

At 41, Kubica finally added his name to the Le Mans winners’ list, completing a remarkable arc for a driver once destined for a Ferrari Formula 1 seat before his 2011 rally accident altered everything.

And yet, the #83's season could have been even better. A turbo failure at Spa and first-lap contact at Fuji proved costly. Without those setbacks, Kubica, Yifei Ye and Phil Hanson might well have been world champions — and few could have argued against it.

Ye’s consistency was outstanding and again underlined Ferrari’s faith in him, even if sharing a cockpit with such a dominant figure naturally limits visibility. Hanson, meanwhile, played his role with intelligence and restraint, never overreaching and allowing the trio to function with rare balance.

Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell

Porsche

There was once the trio of Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer. Today, Porsche has its modern equivalent in the pairing of Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell. No egos, no individual agendas — everything for the collective.

In their second IMSA season together, they claimed a second title, this time in GTP. After a shaky start, they built their campaign on relentless consistency: six podiums in nine races, enough to overhaul the initially dominant Nasr/Tandy crew.

They also delivered whenever Porsche Penske Motorsport needed them in WEC endurance races. Campbell, in particular, stood out: he completed both his WEC and IMSA campaigns without a single penalty, while also finishing second at Le Mans and winning Lone Star Le Mans in Austin.

Laurens Vanthoor and Kévin Estre

Porsche

It is almost impossible to separate these two, a pair who have been working together for so many years and contested their eighth Le Mans 24 Hours as a pairing this June. In WEC, they fought for the world title right up to the final round, helped by a victory at Lone Star Le Mans and, above all, a second place at Le Mans (with Campbell) after what was arguably a flawless race they could easily have won.

While Kévin Estre remains the superstar of the Porsche Penske Motorsport line-up, it was Laurens Vanthoor who arguably shone brightest in 2025. Faultless, penalty-free, and relentlessly effective, the Belgian was involved in every major success.

Drafted in for IMSA endurance races, he won both the Daytona 24 Hours and the Sebring 12 Hours, and also drove both Porsche 963s at Petit Le Mans following Julien Andlauer’s withdrawal — in the race that sealed the title for Jaminet and Campbell.

Nicklas Nielsen

Ferrari

Already the key figure in Ferrari’s Le Mans victory last year, Nielsen increasingly looks like the natural leader of the #50 crew. Metronomic, clean and deceptively quick, he continues to raise his level.

At just 28, he embodies Ferrari’s past, present and future in endurance racing, and was arguably the strongest performer across the six Ferrari AF Corse drivers in 2025.

Miguel Molina occasionally lacked outright pace, while Antonio Fuoco — even if still devastatingly fast — endured a costly off-weekend at Imola. That, combined with the post-Le Mans disqualification, ultimately hit the #50’s title hopes hard.

Alex Lynn, Will Stevens and Norman Nato

Cadillac

Few would have predicted this trio fighting for the world title all the way to the Bahrain finale in Team Jota’s very first season with Cadillac. Yet that is exactly where they ended up.

The #12 V-Series.R was the only Hypercar to score points in all eight WEC rounds, and notably clinched Cadillac's first victory in the WEC in Sao Paolo. The major blemish came in Qatar, when contact between the two sister cars derailed what looked like a genuine challenge to Ferrari. Team co-owner Sam Hignett later called it “a blessing in disguise” and results backed that up.

Penalised in that incident, Alex Lynn seemed to learn from it, adding consistency to a speed that was never in doubt. The only driver to claim three pole positions this season, he was the most visible member of the crew.

But Will Stevens and Norman Nato were just as valuable, in a line-up with clearly defined roles. Notably, Nato was among the very few drivers to complete the entire season without a single penalty. A combination to watch closely in 2026.

Mikkel Jensen

Peugeot

Peugeot’s season never truly caught fire, and its strongest results owed something to favourable BoP. That makes individual evaluation difficult, but once again Jensen stood out.

He was trusted with the final stint at Fuji, where the #93 finished second after leading for long spells, still the best WEC result in the 9X8’s history. His defence against the #6 Porsche in the closing phase was among the year’s most accomplished drives.

Unable to retain their Danish ace amid underwhelming results, Peugeot is losing Jensen to McLaren United AS, which has chosen him as a cornerstone of its future Hypercar programme.

Antonio Giovinazzi, Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado

Ferrari

How could the reigning world champions be left out? The crew of the #51 Ferrari was the only Hypercar line-up to score two WEC victories this season. With six top-five finishes in eight races — including four podiums — they delivered Ferrari’s first overall endurance world title since 1972.

That said, had we been ranking crews, they would not have topped it. The #51 was the most penalised Hypercar of the season, with 11 penalties resulting purely from driver errors — far too many.

Still, the title had to go to a Ferrari, and this was the only one of the three 499Ps not to suffer a completely wasted weekend on a track where the car was competitive. The #83 retired at Spa with a turbo issue, while the #50 endured Fuoco’s off-weekend at Imola and then disqualification at Le Mans.

Dries Vanthoor

BMW

Calling BMW’s season disappointing would be generous. In both IMSA and WEC, the German manufacturer never truly entered the fight. But that does not tell the full story of its drivers' efforts.

Dries Vanthoor earns his place here despite still needing to refine his race management and rein in occasional over-aggression. The 27-year-old delivered one standout statistic: four consecutive IMSA pole positions. Even with a favourable BoP, that level of qualifying performance deserves recognition.

Robin Frijns and Sheldon van der Linde again showed their class, but BMW’s lack of results ultimately worked against them when it came to selection.

Nick Yelloly

Acura

Long a reference point at BMW Team RLL, Yelloly took a calculated risk by joining Acura and Meyer Shank Racing. There may be no title or big victory to show for it, but a fifth place in the IMSA GTP standings represents a solid return.

Alongside Renger van der Zande, he claimed three podiums, including a victory in Detroit. Perhaps most surprisingly, they outperformed the sister car of Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun — despite that duo’s deep familiarity with both the ARX-06 and the MSR operation.

Jack Aitken

Cadillac

With Pipo Derani departing for Genesis, Jack Aitken suddenly found himself the de facto leader at Action Express Racing. Not without mistakes, but with growing authority.

Backed by a resurgent Earl Bamber and, during endurance rounds, Fred Vesti, Aitken finished the season strongly, winning back-to-back races at Indianapolis and Petit Le Mans. Enough to finish with the honorary title of runner-up and a victory in a major classic race.

He also delivered one of the standout moments of the year at Le Mans, setting the outright fastest time of the week in Hyperpole 1. Performances like that explain why Team Jota chose him to replace Jenson Button in the WEC next season, slotting Aitken in alongside Sébastien Bourdais and Earl Bamber.