Verstappen Open To Doing Le Mans And F1 In One Season, But There Are Couple Of Problems
F1
Red Bull Racing Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen discussed the prestigious race- 24 Hours of Le Mans during the most recent Grand Prix weekend in Canada.
WEC (World Endurance Championship) and especially the 24 Hours of Le Mans have grown in popularity over the last couple of years as more manufacturers join the exciting competition.
However, it has been extremely popular among racing drivers for decades, and almost every driver dreams of winning at Le Mans.
Max Verstappen has been quite open in the past about the fact that he would like to race in this prestigious race, perhaps even with his own team that he's working on.
While his priority at the moment is F1, as he is contracted to the Red Bull Racing F1 team until the end of the 2028 season, the triple-world champion revealed he has been approached by a few endurance teams already. As reported by motorsport.com, he said:
"Of course, you get contacted by certain people, but it has to come at the right time and in the right way. I don't want to rush into a decision either."
"With those new cars, I think it will take at least another one or two years before it's all better understood because at the end of the day, it is still a Balance of Performance story and that makes it difficult."
F1 teams usually prefer that their drivers focus solely on their season and avoid distractions or activities that could cause injuries. That's one reason why F1 drivers have been forbidden to go skying for a long time.
But big drivers like Max Verstappen, who have more negotiating power, might have more wiggle room. At the moment, Verstappen sees the schedule as the biggest obstacle.
"Of course, you can't run Le Mans and Formula 1 in one weekend, but if it can be combined in a good way, then I think it can be done during the F1 season."
At the end of the day, there already has been a driver, even pretty recently- Nico Hulkenberg, who completed the F1 season and the 24 hours of Le Mans simultaneously.
It was in 2015, and he even managed to win with Porsche in the LMP1- hypercar category. Although Verstappen would like to do something similar, he says it's too early for him now.
"It's too early for me to enter because of the new regulations as well, I think they need to sort out the BOP (Balance Of Performance) a little bit better between the cars."
"It's a bit hit-and-miss here and there, I find. Plus, for me, also the driver weight, I feel like there needs to be a limit on that, because I might rock up at 80 kilos with kit, but there is also a driver that can be 55 or 60."
The 26-year-old Red Bull driver also asserted the regulations around the weight would need to change before he could enter because lighter drivers could have an advantage of a couple of tenths compared to him.
"When you go to Le Mans, you have no chance - that already is a couple of tenths a lap. It's pretty incredible, the difference.
"So they need to sort that out. There needs to be an average or minimum weight that you need to comply to. But for sure in the future, I would like to race. Yeah, it's an incredible event."
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