In what could be a good omen for Sir Lewis Hamilton, two British Ferrari drivers were on the podium at the opening round of this year’s star-studded FIA World Endurance Championship staged in Qatar last weekend.

Dominating the results, the rampant Prancing Horse actually posted a commanding one-two-three finish in the premier Hypercar category after ten hours of closely fought competition. Following a late Safety Car intervention, less than three seconds covered the top three at the chequered flag.

Ferrari rookie Philip Hanson was among the trio of drivers piloting the privateer AF Corse entry to second place with James Calado, 2023 Le Mans winner, finishing third in the second of the factory run Ferrari AF Corse 499P Hypercars. His entry had started from pole and led the early laps.

With the addition of two new Aston Martin Valkyries, the top class now features 18 top quality entries all striving for outright victories.

No fewer than ten British drivers are on the grid, too: Harry Tincknell, Tom Gamble and Ross Gunn are in the Aston Martin camp; Mike Conway lines up for Toyota; Paul di Resta for Peugeot while Jenson Button, Alex Lynn and Will Stevens are part of the Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA squad.

In the third hour the two ‘Caddies’ were running first and second in Qatar before Lynn and Button made unfortunate contact with one another, after some confusion following a safety car restart, thus ruining the races of both entries.

There was further British success, however, in LMGT3 where the Corvette run by Sussex based TF Sport took top honours with promising young Motorsport UK Academy beneficiary Jonny Edgar among its drivers.

In an equally thrilling finish, the victorious ‘Vette fended off a final hour challenge from the United Autosport’s McLaren with less than half-a-second separating the duelling duo following a breathless dash to the flag.

“Unreal – P1 on debut in the FIA WEC. What a way to start a season,” enthused a delighted Edgar, 21, who has stepped up to the World Championship after winning last year’s European Le Mans Series. “Massive thanks to everyone at TF Sport, Corvette and my teammates Ben Keating and Dani Juncadella for their efforts – it’s been an amazing week in Qatar. Can’t wait for the next round.”

After the curtain-raiser in the Middle East, the WEC action now switches to Europe with the 6 Hours of Imola in Italy on 20 April followed by the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps on 20 May. Then comes the big one: the 24 Hours of Le Mans over 14-15 June weekend in France.

Before any of that, Lewis Hamilton will be all out for further British success with Ferrari when the 2025 FIA F1 World Championship kicks off in Melbourne on Sunday 16 March.