Team principal Dieter Gass explains how the two Jota Cadillacs collided at the WEC season opener – and why he does not blame the drivers
The 2025 World Endurance Championship (WEC) season had barely started for two hours when a scene occurred in the opening race in Qatar that is likely to appear in every annual review. The two Jota Cadillacs collided with each other while running in first and second place – and behind the safety car!
Alex Lynn crashed into the rear of his team-mate Jenson Button, who was leading the race in the 12 car. A long repair stop was the result, costing both cars a chance at a top result.
“It’s obviously a nightmare,” said Jota team principal Dieter Gass, summing up the situation for Sportscar365. ‘On the surface, they warmed up the brakes and tires. I think Alex was surprised by Jenson and was maybe a little too close at that moment,’ Gass analyzed the situation.
Error message on Jenson Button’s car
Lynn, on the other hand, felt he was being held up by Button and vented his annoyance loudly over the radio. Gass is understanding of this reaction in the heat of the moment, especially as Lynn’s perception was not entirely unjustified.
Disaster for Cadillac!
Teammates Jenson Button and Alex Lynn collide into each other under the safety car!
Watch live on https://t.co/IPZa0nw0B2 WEC Qatar1812km @lusailcircuit pic. twitter.com/no6VarzHTf
— FIA World Endurance Championship (@FIAWEC) February 28, 2025
Because immediately before the incident, Button may have been distracted by an error message in the cockpit. “We were trying to solve this problem – unfortunately, all of this was happening at the same time,” he explains.
The stewards, however, clearly saw Lynn as the culprit and handed him a drive-through penalty for causing the collision. The number 12 car, which Lynn shared with Norman Nato and Will Stevens, still fought back to finish in eighth place.
Team Principal Gass: “We can’t turn back the clock”
The sister car, number 38, shared by Button with Sebastien Bourdais and Earl Bamber, initially had problems with the throttle valves after the accident damage had been repaired. In the end, the trio crossed the finish line in 16th place.
Gass does not blame his drivers, though. “Very unfortunate – but it’s done, and we can’t turn back the clock,” says the former Head of Audi Motorsport. “We’ll analyze what went wrong and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
