Mercedes to enter World Endurance Championship from 2025

The grid of the World Championship ofEndurance will welcome a new renowned manufacturer from the 2025 season. This Wednesday, November 20, the WEC took everyone by surprise by announcing the arrival of Mercedes on the grid next year via a short communication on its social networks. The German manufacturer confirmed that its participation would be in GT3. Iron Lynx will take care of the operation of the two examples of the firm with the star. The Italian firm having been linked to Lamborghini until now, this announcement seems to confirm the upcoming withdrawal of the manufacturer from Sant'Agata Bolognese (Italy) from the World Endurance Championship, even if the latter has not yet communicated.

 

See this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by FIA World Endurance Championship (@fiawec_official)

For Mercedes, this will be the brand's big return to 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time since 1999. I would like to thank the ACO and the FIA ​​for their in-depth discussions, says Stefan Wendl, Head of Customer Racing at Iron Mercedes. I am also very pleased that we were able to convince Iron Lynx of the enormous potential of our customer program. Intensive cooperation over a short period of time has already resulted in participation in the FIA ​​WEC. This is extremely positive news for Mercedes-AMG as a whole. The homologation of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 for the LMGT3 class means that all other customer teams now have the opportunity to secure a place on the starting grid for the Le Mans endurance classic. »

The German-Italian ticket has already confirmed two drivers for the 2025 season: Claudio Schiavoni will be at the wheel of the #60 while Matteo Cressoni will drive #61. The Iron Dames will continue in WEC in GT3, but with Porsche. " We are extremely proud to welcome Mercedes-AMG among our partners, rejoices Andrea Piccini, Team Principal of the trans structurealpine. In addition to being an extraordinary brand, they are highly motivated, determined and hungry for success. With such support, I am confident that we will be able to hit the ground running and be competitive from the very beginning. We look forward to receiving our new Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 race cars, starting our preparation work for 2025 and continuing our commitment to the FIA ​​World Endurance Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Endurance racing is in our DNA, and the FIA ​​WEC is certainly the pinnacle of it, so we are honoured and excited to be a part of it once again. »

If Mercedes is content with an entry in LMGT3 for the moment, it is very likely that the German manufacturer will embark on a program to move up to the premier class in the years to come, something that the firm with the star has not yet confirmed.

ALSO READ > Rodin interested in participating in the WEC in the Hypercar category