Porsche still open to running Vettel at Le Mans in the future
Sebastian Vettel won’t be making his Le Mans debut with Porsche next month, but the German manufacturer is open to the possibility of running the four-time F1 world champion in the endurance classic in the future.
Vettel's Le Mans candidacy with Porsche Penske Motorsport emerged after a solid test with the team last March at Aragon, Spain, where he put roughly 600km under his belt at the wheel of the outfit’s 963 machine.
This strong showing positioned him as a potential addition to Porsche's factory Le Mans effort, which will see them field three cars in the premier Hypercar category.
Intriguingly, Porsche delayed their official Le Mans driver announcement beyond the planned late-March timeline. This delay fueled speculation that they were seriously considering Vettel for one of the two remaining seats in their program.
However, after careful evaluation, Porsche opted to retain Felipe Nasr and Nick Tandy alongside previously nominated driver Mathieu Jaminet. This trio will steer the #4 entry, which will be operated by Porsche Penske Motorsport's IMSA SportsCar Championship squad.
But Porsche hasn't completely shut the door on a future Le Mans adventure with Vettel.
"For an OEM like Porsche, for a company like Porsche, it has to remain a topic, that goes without saying," Porsche LMDh director Urs Kuratle told Motorsport-Total.com.
"And for Sebastian, too. I think he's up for it - he said so himself after the test.
"That will be a topic, but when and in what form it will come together remains to be seen. Nothing has been finalised at the moment.”
Kuratle did not elaborate on the reason why a Vettel-Porsche collaboration did not come to fruition for this year’s Le Mans event.
"The situation did not arise,” he said. “There is no culprit in this question. I think that's actually the case, it didn't happen. That didn't happen."
The Porsche chief also emphasized how today’s LMDh cars, which way over 1000 kg, require a bigger adjustment for F1 drivers than their LMP1 predecessors which were the equivalent of Grand Prix cars in endurance trim.
Case in point, in 2016, F1 driver Nico Hulkenberg won Le Mans with Porsche’s 919 Hybrid machine in 2016 after adapting relatively easily to the LMP1 charger.
"The biggest difference at the moment is probably the weight," Kuratle explained.
"The cars are both very complex, they are just different in terms of design. I think the biggest difference, you keep hearing, is that.
"One big difference is that the pure vehicle weight is another one. A huge difference is also that we drive at night, that we have different big speed differences from all classes that you encounter on the track.
“Those are the biggest differences.
"I just don't think it was the whole thing before. That means he [Vettel] needs some [more] time to get used to it in [than in] the past."
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