United Autosports #59 & #95 McLaren
This weekend, the McLaren LMGT3 duo took on the 6 Hours of Imola - the second round of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship - at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in front of 65,000-strong, roaring crowds. After a stellar start to the season in Qatar (read more), the multi-podium-placing team battled the intrinsic challenges of the kerb-lined Imola circuit, ultimately crossing the line P9 (#95) and P14 (#59).
On Saturday afternoon, Darren Leung (#95) and James Cottingham (#59) kicked off Qualifying in ultra-competitive fashion. The British drivers posted P4 and P5 respectively with impressive pace, securing two spots for McLaren in Hyperpole. FIA Silver-graded drivers Sean Gelael (#95) and Sebastien Baud (#59) took over for the 10-minute Hyperpole shootout, putting the papaya LMGT3 duo P8 (#95) and P9 (#59) on the grid.
Come race day, Cottingham and Leung took the start, with impressive performances from both. Cottingham worked hard to push the #59 into the top 10 whilst saving energy, running P11 after one hour and P9 after the second. In the sister car, Leung also demonstrated competitive pace, successfully keeping the #95 in the top 10 with cool defence along the way.
The first Virtual Safety Car of the race saw the McLaren duo dive into the pits, with Baud (#59) and Gelael (#95) taking over. Gelael went on the hunt, setting rapid lap times, overtaking to P8 and positioning the #95 for a top five finish. The team executed a time-critical pit stop, and Japanese driver Marino Sato rejoined with a good haul of championship points in view.
In a race characterised by time penalties, however, the #59 and #95 both suffered. The #95 was hit particularly hard with a drive-through penalty for VSC procedures immediately after the Safety Car, which sent Sato tumbling down the order with an hour and a half on the clock, finishing P9 after 192 laps.
In the #59, Gregoire Saucy served a drive through penalty, for an incident prior to his stint, losing approximately 34 seconds with just 17 minutes of race time remaining. At the line, it was a P14 finish - but with points and a half secured for their podium finish at the opening round in Qatar, Cottingham, Baud and Saucy are currently third place in the championship standings.
Round three of the 2025 WEC is the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday 10th May. Last year, the McLaren crew came within touching distance of the podium. What can the LMGT3 duo achieve this time? Follow all the action on social @unitedautosports.
James Cottingham, Sebastien Baud and Gregoire Saucy
#59 MCLAREN GT3 EVO
QUALI P9 | RACE P14 | CHAMP P3
James Cottingham: “A disappointing day of course. We were looking to bag some safe points, but we didn’t manage to bag any at all. But on reflection, this was our weakest race last year and it was always going to be our weakest race this year. So having the success ballast from the last race at our weakest track was probably the best thing. And we will look forward to Spa where we had front row performance for qualifying and podium potential pace during the race last year, and I don’t see any reason why we can’t deliver that in a few weeks’ time.”
Sebastien Baud: “We wrapped up the 6 Hours of Imola in 14th place. It was a challenging weekend for us - we had to fight hard with the car and never really found the performance we were hoping for. Still, we’ll take the positives, learn from it, and come back stronger. Time to focus and get to work for the next round: the 6 Hours of Spa.”
Gregoire Saucy: “Not the race we wanted, but we knew it was going to be a difficult track for us. We need to focus on Spa now. Last year, we were really close to the win there so I am pretty sure we can work hard and come back very competitive for the next round.”
Darren Leung, Sean Gelael and Marino Sato
#95 MCLAREN GT3 EVO
QUALI P8 | RACE P9 | CHAMP P11
Darren Leung: “This was always going to be one of the most challenging circuits on the calendar for us. I was pretty pleased to get P4 in my Qualifying given the pace we had. My team mates were fast all weekend and unfortunately a small error in Marino’s stint cost us maybe P5 at best, resulting in P9 for us. I’m looking forward to Spa in a couple of weeks’ time where we can get right back into the mix.”
Sean Gelael: “Points here in Imola. I think shoulda, woulda, coulda is the quote for this weekend. Could have qualified better, could have translated it to a better result in the race. But a few too many penalties and a few too many things that didn’t go our way mean we have to be happy with ninth. It’s not the start we want in the first two rounds but hopefully we can have a good one in Spa. I know the team are working very hard and I have full trust that we can do a good job in the future.”
Marino Sato: “We had a decent car this weekend. Sean and Darren drove really strong stints in the race and they put me in a position where I could fight. There was a little problem that we were not supposed to face … but that was not everything that caused the penalty. It was my mistake that we got the penalty. It felt horrible, I still feel horrible. I let the team down today. I am looking forward to the next chance when I can make it up to them.”
MANAGEMENT
Richard Dean, United Autosports CEO: “This weekend was tougher than expected, but we came to Imola with realistic goals as this circuit doesn’t play to the strengths of the McLaren. James Cottingham and Darren Leung were particularly impressive this weekend – their Qualifying performances were top tier. Thank you to the team as always, I’m looking forward to what we can achieve in Spa.”
Ian James, Director of Motorsport, McLaren Automotive: “Having shown race-winning pace in Qatar, we knew the Imola circuit would be a trickier prospect for the McLaren GT3 EVO. Fighting for a championship is all about taking points when you can, and that’s exactly what the drivers of the 95 car did. It’s Spa next and we came close to winning last year, so we’re optimistic it will suit us better and we can once again challenge at the front.”