Toyota calls WEC 2025 “boring” in BoP revision push

Toyota has labelled this year’s World Endurance Championship as “boring” and made a thinly-veiled call for changes to the system of Balance of Performance to improve the spectacle.

David Floury, technical director of Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe, bemoaned the quality of the on-track action in the WEC’s Hypercar division during 2025, labelling it “a sad season” and suggesting that it has so far been devoid of “proper racing”.

His comments, which did not include use of the term Balance of Performance, followed Cadillac’s domination of last weekend’s Sao Paulo 6 Hours round, which he labelled a “boring race”.

Cadillac finished 1-2 in Brazil, the winning Jota-run V-Series.R LMDh lapping every car at least once up to and including the fourth-placed Penske Porsche 963 LMDh.

The two Toyota GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercars trailed home in 14th and 15th positions, three laps from the lead.

“The races, if you look at them, are not interesting – the full season has been boring,” said Floury.

He described Spa in May as “a good race”, but pointed out that the Belgian venue “always produces good racing”, adding that “by the standards of Spa, it was not an exceptional race”.

It followed the rounds in Qatar and at Imola in February and April respectively that were largely dominated by Ferrari, which continued its winning streak through Spa and the Le Mans 24 Hours blue riband WEC round in June.

“This season is really sad in the sense that we’ve lost sight of what racing is all about and it has become far too artificial,” continued Floury.

“It’s not about whether we need something to close the gaps between cars or not, this is accepted on our side, but the process is totally wrong.”

Floury was clearly referencing the BoP with his use of the word process.

He avoided the term because talking publicly about the BoP is expressly forbidden in the WEC sporting rules.

Toyota was sanctioned 12 months ago with a suspended €10,000 (£8650) fine following comments made by its then race director Rob Leupen about the BoP.

Floury said he could have predicted the results at Sunday’s Interlagos event, round five of the 2025 WEC, on receiving what he called “the table” – meaning the BoP – the week ahead of the race.

#8 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 – Hybrid: Brendon Hartley, Ry? Hirakawa

Photo by: FIAWEC – DPPI

“When you receive the table before the weekend, you already know what’s going to happen – this should not be the case,” he said.

He insisted that the process in place for this season to balance the field is having the contrary effect.

“It is meant to bring the cars closer together and it is doing exactly the opposite,” he explained.

The FIA and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, which jointly write the rules for the WEC, introduced a new system by which the BoP is calculated for this year in consultation with the manufacturers.

It initially used an algorithm based on race averages and ultimate fastest laps from the previous three regular WEC events, though it is known that this was changed to two out of three for Spa.

It now appears that it has been revised again and only the past two races are now part of the calculation, though this has not been confirmed by the series governance.

Floury called for a rethink for the good of the championship.

#8 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 – Hybrid: Brendon Hartley, Ry? Hirakawa

Photo by: FIAWEC – DPPI

“We urgently need to find a solution, otherwise I’m sure it will have some consequences,” he said. “I’m not talking only on behalf of us, but generally speaking, as a fan, as an enthusiast of WEC, I feel like we’ve gone too far and we need to seriously reconsider.

“Collectively, as a group, with the other manufacturers, the FIA and ACO, I think it is urgent that we reconsider what we race for and what we should target because this season is absolutely not good in this respect.”

When asked what needs to be done, Floury replied: “I have my own idea about this, but I’m going to discuss this here. It’s not up to me to decide anyway.”

The FIA and the WEC have been contacted for comment.