The Super Season format was conceived as a transitional arrangement to shift the WEC calendar from a spring-to-autumn layout, with Le Mans in the middle of the year, to a winter schedule running from spring of one year to the following summer's Le Mans. This realignment would allow subsequent seasons to run from autumn to Le Mans, matching the natural rhythm of the European motorsport calendar.
The provisional schedule was announced on 1 September 2017. Unusually, the calendar included eight rounds rather than the typical number, with Le Mans appearing twice: once in June 2018 as the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans and again in June 2019 as the season finale. The 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium was similarly run in both May 2018 and May 2019. Sebring International Raceway in Florida returned as an 8-hour, 1,000-mile event and ran the day after the IMSA WeatherTech Championship's 12 Hours of Sebring, though the two events operated independently under their respective championships.
Several venues from the 2017 season were excluded, including the Circuit of the Americas, Bahrain International Circuit, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, and the Nürburgring. A round at Silverstone Circuit in the United Kingdom was added two weeks after the initial calendar announcement, originally intended for February 2019 but moved to August 2018 to bridge the gap between the 2018 Le Mans and the Asian swing. The rounds at Fuji Speedway in Japan and Shanghai International Circuit in China had their dates adjusted during planning, with Fuji ultimately reverting to its original scheduled date.
The series was open to Le Mans Prototypes and grand tourer-style racing cars divided into four categories: LMP1, LMP2, LMGTE Pro and LMGTE Am. World championship titles were awarded to LMP drivers, GTE drivers, LMP1 teams and GTE manufacturers. FIA Endurance Trophies were awarded in LMP2 and LMGTE Am for drivers and teams. Points were awarded only to the highest-finishing competitor from each team in the LMP1 world championship, while the two highest-finishing competitors from each manufacturer scored points in the LMGTE manufacturers' title.
Cars were required to complete 70 per cent of the overall race winner's distance to score championship points. A single bonus point was awarded to the pole position car in each class across qualifying sessions.
All LMP2 cars in the Super Season used the Gibson GK428 4.2-litre V8 engine, consistent with the technical specifications introduced for the LMP2 category in 2017. This standardised powertrain approach aimed to contain costs and focus competition on chassis development and driver performance.
The Super Season format was a one-off structural adjustment necessitated by the calendar transition and was not repeated in subsequent seasons. The following 2019–20 season returned to a shorter calendar running from autumn 2019 to summer 2020, with Le Mans in June 2020. The Super Season is remembered as a unique chapter in WEC history, offering two consecutive Le Mans races within a single championship campaign and representing the final years of the LMP1 hybrid era before the Hypercar regulations were introduced in 2021.