Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen says that Fernando Alonso has an interest in teaming up with him at the Le Mans 24 Hours in the future.
Verstappen attended the annual Honda Thanks Day celebration event at Motegi along with team mate Sergio Perez, AlphaTauri drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda, two-times Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato and many Moto GP riders including Marc Marquez.
Answering questions from fans at the event while watching Sato demonstrate his 2020 Indy 500 winning car, Verstappen was asked if he would consider racing in the IndyCar series in the future.
“I like to watch it,” he said. “I have a lot of respect for what they do, but I don’t think I’d be participating.”
The Red Bull driver said there were many cars and racing series that he would consider driving or competing in the future, including the Le Mans 24 Hours.
“For sure I would like to try a MotoGP bike, Verstappen said. “I enjoy SuperGT. I got to try one last year, which was very nice. The Super Formula cars, they’re very nice. It’s the fastest car below Formula 1, they look great.
“But Le Mans, I would definitely like to do. I’ve been there already, when my dad used to race in Le Mans. The atmosphere is amazing in endurance – so many people, driving through the night, sunrise… I think it’s really cool.”
Asked what his ideal team of co-drivers would be, Verstappen said that Aston Martin driver Alonso – who won the Le Mans 24 Hours twice with Toyota – had expressed an interest in racing the marquee endurance event with him.
“I’ve been speaking to Fernando about it,” Verstappen said. “He said he would only want to do it with me again. So I said ‘that would be really cool’.
“The only thing is that, for Le Mans, there is not like a minimum weight for the driver. I’m quite a heavy driver, so I’d need to find light team mates to compensate. But Fernando is quite light, so it would be quite good. But we’d need to find another one, so I need to have a look.”
Verstappen is contracted as a Red Bull driver in Formula 1 until the end of the 2028 season.
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