The 2025 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps was a magnificent motor race, which generated a set of results that didn’t come close to telling the full story.

The headlines wrote themselves. Ferrari’s perfect start to the season continued with a third consecutive victory, and the #51 Ferrari 499P became the first car to win consecutive FIA WEC races overall since the #7 Toyota did so at Monza and Fuji two seasons ago. The points standings in Hypercar are beginning to look ominous for seven of the eight brands as a result.

The top three positions in the Drivers’ standings are occupied by the three Ferrari crews, and the reigning champions in the #6 Porsche sit 13th. In the Manufacturers’ race, Ferrari has collected 136 points and pulled away from Toyota, which sits a distant second on 71. It really has been a tour de force from the Italian factory’s flagship sportscar programme through the first three rounds.

But there was so much to unpick from the contest beyond the Prancing Horse’s 1-2 sweep. Le Mans is now on the horizon, and there were plenty of signs at Spa that another truly extraordinary 24-hour race is in the offing.

You can’t ignore the Balance of Performance elements, of course. The adjustments through the opening races have certainly played a part in giving Ferrari its edge. Question marks remain over the gaps between some of the cars, and the politics that are clearly in play as we barrel towards the most important month for the season. But the victories this season haven’t been handed over on a silver platter; the AF Corse team has had to work hard for them all.

The action was fast and furious out on track for the duration of yesterday’s clash, as it was in Imola. The fans that packed the stands in record numbers were treated to countless battles up and down the order, and generous servings of aggressive driving.

Behind the factory 499Ps, multiple other teams looked well-positioned to score their first victory in the current era. And as the race wore on, it became increasingly clear that many of Ferrari’s competitors could sense there was a real opportunity for an upset, as they pushed themselves – and AF Corse’s drivers – to the limit in pursuit of silverware.

One of them was Robin Frijns from the BMW Team WRT camp. “It was exciting in the car, everyone is battling hard and trying to be fair, but when you’re side by side going into Eau Rouge, one of the most dangerous corners in the world, give me space,” he said when asked to describe his fight for second with race winner Alessandro Pier Guidi in the penultimate hour.

It was one of several edgy moments between front-running cars, who were using every inch of the asphalt, and sometimes beyond, while jostling for position through traffic. The sequence with Frijns and Pier Guidi was perhaps the most eyebrow-raising, as they ran together side by side down the hill into Eau Rouge-Raidillon with the M Hybrid V8 brushing the pit wall.

“It’s endurance racing,” he continued. “It’s not DTM in the 80s when it was elbows out 24/7. I enjoy being on the limit, but if you go off and hit the wall at 250 kph, we would be talking differently…”

Like BMW, Peugeot and its 9X8s – racing under the watchful eye of the brand’s new CEO Alain Favey all weekend – also went all in and had their moments in the sun as a result.

The final classification makes for grim reading, the #94 retired with suspension damage, and the #93 came home 11th and outside the points after the team’s strategy gamble failed to keep the car in contention. Yet Loic Duval feels the proud French team will take plenty of positives away from the performance.

“We should have scored good points, so it’s hard,” he added in conversation with DSC post-race. “At one point in the middle of the race, both cars were in the top five, and you’d expect to score points. Most of the teams have been in this situation: you have an opportunity for a big result, and you miss it!”

Overall, though, it was Alpine that looked closest. On another day, ‘Les Bleus’ may have come away with second place or even a victory. The A424s were on rails on the resurfaced Spa-Francorchamps circuit throughout the meeting and, at times, looked the most well-rounded package.

A second consecutive podium finish for the #36 suggests Alpine is becoming a force to be reckoned with. The fact that the Signatech team appeared deflated with third place is telling. This is a team that is riding a wave of positive momentum into the biggest month of the season and shows no signs of slowing down.

“We missed a little something in qualifying and focused instead on our race and knew that at Spa, we could overtake, unlike at Imola, where track position is a key factor,” Fred Makowiecki said in summary.

“We are a little disappointed, but we are proud of this result for the team and has shown that we have ramped up race after race. We’re understanding the car better and better, and have started to operate better too. We have a very strong challenger in front of us, though, so we need to continue in that direction.”

With the field so tight behind Ferrari, and more Hypercar factories than ever before looking capable of winning races, the prospects for Le Mans and the remaining WEC rounds are mouthwatering. Ferrari’s win streak won’t last forever. The question is: Who will snap it and when?