Fourth consecutive Team's title for Buemi and Toyota
Sharpening his skills in the Formula E off-season, veteran all-electric driver Sebastien Buemi celebrated a fourth consecutive Team's World Championship title with Toyota Gazoo Racing on November 13 in the Bahrain 8 Hours season finale.
Racing alongside former Formula E driver Brendon Hartley and their Toyota teammate Ryo Hirakawa, all three were crowned the 2022 Hypercar champions as their number 8 Toyota GR010 HYBRID finished second behind the race-winning number 7 car of Jose Maria Lopez, Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi.
Having raced for the Japanese team since 2012, the Swiss driver's efforts in endurance racing have dovetailed with his Formula E career since 2014, making Buemi one of the most experienced racing drivers in the paddock.
Following their success in Bahrain, both Buemi and Brendon Hartley wrote their names into the record books as the first drivers to win three titles in the top category of the World Endurance Championship or its predecessor, the World Sportscar Championship.
“It’s amazing to win the World Championship this year," said Buemi immediately after the race. "We maximised all the opportunities and doing the double of Le Mans and the title is an amazing feeling."
After the celebrations have finished, Buemi will start preparing for his ninth season in Formula E, moving to Envision Racing after a long career spent with e.dams in both its Renault and Nissan guises. With a Formula E Driver's championship title already to his name, the Swiss driver will be looking to claim his second title in the series when racing commences in Mexico City in 2023.
Da Costa clinches title in LMP2
Former Driver's Champion and Porsche's new recruit Antonio Felix da Costa clinched the LMP2 title in the World Endurance Championship with his team Jota, after he and teammates Will Stevens and Roberto Gonzalez secured enough points from a third-place finish in Bahrain.
The Portuguese has driven for Jota alongside his Formula E commitments since 2019, securing two third place championship finishes with the team in the process. Going into Bahrain with a 28-point lead in the standings thanks to a class victory at Le Mans, da Costa's Jota crew only needed to finish inside the top seven in order to be guaranteed of a first LMP2 title in the WEC’s history.
"We are the World Champions!" said da Costa on social after the race. "These are the moments I work my whole life for. Thank you team. Thank you to all of you out there supporting."
After clinching the Formula E World Championship Driver's title in 2020 with DS TECHEETAH, da Costa joins TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E for his ninth season in the all-electric championship. With a reputation to uphold, the Portuguese will be looking for another title to add to his collection when the racing gets going in January 2023. Watch this space.