Toyota’s Austin heartbreak: how a late hydraulic failure costs them victory
Toyota left Austin’s Circuit of The Americas with its grip on the manufacturers’ championship strengthened, but the #7 crew was denied a likely victory by a hydraulic failure in the closing minutes of the six-hour race.
Starting seventh and ninth, Toyota’s two TR010 Hybrid Hypercars adopted different early strategies while remaining firmly in contention. After a mid-race safety car period, Nyck de Vries launched a decisive attack in the #7 car, overtaking Aston Martin’s George Gamble, Alpine’s António Félix da Costa and Cadillac’s Earl Bamber in a tightly fought sequence to move from fourth into the lead.
De Vries returned to the cockpit for the final hour and immediately raised the pressure, setting a succession of fastest laps to extend the advantage he shared with Kamui Kobayashi and Mike Conway. However, a hydraulic issue affected the power steering and forced the #7 into retirement almost within sight of a second victory of the season.
“Obviously, that was a very sad end to a great day,” said de Vries. “We really gave it our all and the team executed extremely well. We had a great car, with strong pace and we were in a perfect position going into the last few minutes. Unfortunately, this is a technical sport and that let us down this time.”
Kobayashi described the failure as a major missed opportunity, noting that the car had been strong for almost six hours. With René Rast and Robin Frijns also failing to score, the #7 line-up remained tied with its closest title rivals at the top of the Drivers’ standings, with three rounds remaining.
Toyota extends manufacturers’ lead
The #8 Toyota endured a more complicated route to sixth. Sébastien Buemi’s late overtaking charge was central to Toyota’s points haul, after the car went off-strategy during the first pit-stop phase and used clean air to cycle into the lead.
Brendon Hartley later lost time in traffic while pursuing the eventual winning #50 Ferrari, before Ryō Hirakawa received a drive-through penalty for pit-lane speeding while running third. A Virtual Safety Car then arrived shortly after the team had refuelled under normal conditions, dropping the car to 14th as rivals gained a free pit stop.
Buemi recovered the #8 to sixth, leaving its crew just 11 points from the Drivers’ championship lead. Toyota nevertheless extended its manufacturers’ advantage over BMW from five points to nine ahead of Fuji in Japan, scheduled for 25–27 September. For more WEC coverage, see our report on Fernando Alonso’s WEC option for 2027.
Simone Scanu
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.