With four races remaining, time is beginning to run out for some, while others have momentum on their side. At the Circuit of the Americas, a track notoriously demanding on tyres and where several teams tested over the summer, the competitive order could yet shift again.
The Texan circuit also has a habit of producing close racing. Last year, just 0.256 seconds separated the top two LMGT3 finishers, the smallest winning margin ever recorded in WEC across all classes.
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Can Ferrari still keep its title hopes alive?
For reigning champion Ferrari, the 2026 season is beginning to demand more than podiums and solid finishes. Especially since the revised calendar leaves less room for big swings in the standings.
The Qatar 1812km and 8 Hours of Bahrain have made way for six-hour races, where victory is worth 25 points rather than 38. Every missed opportunity is becoming harder to recover from, with the Italian manufacturer now 44 points behind Toyota and 39 behind BMW.
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Austin, at least, has been good to Ferrari. The Italian marque has taken one victory there and, notably, two pole positions from two appearances with the 499P. The car clearly works around COTA. Turning that qualifying pace into another victory is another matter.
“We hope to show once again that we can contend for a great result at this circuit,” said Alessandro Pier Guidi, “It will be important to score as many points as possible in this fifth round of the season to remain in contention in both the World Drivers’ and World Manufacturers’ Championship standings.”
At COTA, Ferrari will not simply be looking to return to winning ways, but to keep its title hopes alive.
Can Toyota finally break its Texas curse?
Eight races in Austin, no victories. COTA is one of only four circuits visited by the WEC since 2012 where Toyota has yet to win.
After a difficult São Paulo weekend, Toyota used part of the summer break to work at the Texan circuit.
“It was particularly good to test there a few weeks ago, especially because our car has evolved since last year’s race,” says Brendon Hartley. “Hopefully that gives us a useful head start in terms of set-ups and tyres.”
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Sébastien Buemi now wants to see that work translate into results: “We’ll be giving everything to fight at the front and hopefully stand on the podium again.”
For Toyota, winning in Austin would be timely, with the risk of losing its advantage over BMW in both the Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ Championships.
Can BMW take control of the championship?
Three consecutive podiums, including two victories, a one-two finish and second place at the 24 Hours of Le Mans: over the space of three races, BMW has moved onto another level. The Munich manufacturer now sits just five points behind Toyota in the Manufacturers’ Championship.
In the Drivers’ standings, René Rast and Robin Frijns are level on points with Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries. The BMW pairing holds the advantage courtesy of its second-place finish at Le Mans.
BMW therefore arrives in Texas full of confidence and determined to reclaim the Manufacturers’ Championship lead it lost to Toyota at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
That brings a slightly different test for BMW M Team WRT. It has proved it can win. At COTA, the German-Belgian partnership must also show it can manage a weekend and maximise what is available even if outright victory is beyond reach.
There is a world title to chase. BMW’s last came in 2007, in the FIA WTCC. That was 19 years ago. Team WRT did not even exist yet.
Can Ben Keating finally win at home?
Some victories mean more than others. Ben Keating has won enough races to know that. Yet one is still missing, and perhaps the most personal of them all: a WEC victory on home soil.
Austin really is home territory for the Texan. Keating hails from Houston and knows better than most what this race means in a championship of which he has become one of the most familiar faces.
This weekend will add another line to that story. Making his 45th WEC appearance, Keating will become the American driver with the most starts in championship history.
There is still one box left unchecked, though. At COTA, in front of his home crowd, Keating gets another chance to tick it and take another step towards the title in the process. Even with a 27-point advantage, do not expect him to spend Sunday calculating.
Is Genesis ready for the podium?
The GMR-001 has only four races behind it, but it has already made an impression. Both cars reached Hyperpole 2 at Le Mans, while #19 car came within three tenths of pole at São Paulo. Raw speed is no longer really the question. Consistency is.
“We are still a very new team compared to those we are racing against,” acknowledges team principal Cyril Abiteboul. “But we have shown we are capable of competing with them, which is a great step forward to make in just four races.”
“However, while we have shown great reliability and strong performance, we need to be able to put them together into the complete package more consistently.”
Two days of testing at COTA helped Genesis prepare for its Texas outing. With high temperatures expected, chief engineer Justin Taylor has already identified one of the key challenges: keeping the tyres alive.
Genesis is still learning the details that make the difference in the WEC. A podium on Sunday would be a remarkable achievement.
One last victory for the Alpine A424?
Four races. That is all Alpine has left to claim a second victory with the A424, a car that has not finished on the podium since winning the 6 Hours of Fuji last year.
That has been the paradox of its season. The performance is there — at times enough to fight with the best. But not for long enough to still be in that position during the final stint, when it matters.
“The priority now is to turn that potential into results,” says team principal Philippe Sinault.
COTA begins a short final run for the A424. Four opportunities remain to turn that potential into a result before its racing story comes to an end. One last victory would change the complexion of its farewell.
Will Cadillac finally deliver?
Since the beginning of the year, Cadillac has often looked as though it has the car to beat, certainly in terms of outright pace. And yet something has always been missing when it comes to converting that speed into victory.
São Paulo was perhaps the clearest example yet. The pace was there, but so were the mistakes. At this level, a few seconds are enough to change a race, and BMW and Ferrari were ready to capitalise.
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“We’ve shown a lot of pace at the start of the season, including two strong results in Brazil,” says Sébastien Bourdais. “The aim is now to build on this momentum and deliver some more great results for the team.”
Cadillac has little left to prove when it comes to speed, whether over a single lap or across a stint. Its performance has inevitably attracted the attention of the BoP. What Cadillac lacks is not tenths, but results.
A winless season would be regarded as a bitter failure. Putting that right on home soil would only make the story sweeter.