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Former F1 driver Sebastien Buemi believes Max Verstappen is inches away from entering the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Buemi, the four-time winner at 24 Hours of Le Mans, raced in Endurance Racing and thinks that the Red Bull driver is interested in this category, and will enter it in 'no time.'
With 65 F1 race wins and four titles to his name, Verstappen is one of the most successful F1 drivers out there. With so much success under his belt, Verstappen often ventures out to try different racing disciplines, such as GT3 or iRacing.
Recently, he drove a GT3 car at the Nurburgring Nordschleife track under the pseudonym 'Franz Hermann'. Besides this, he also races in iRacing regularly between races. Therefore, Verstappen trying out a different racing category once he is done with F1 would not be surprising, something Buemi believes in.
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“I haven’t seen him for quite a long time, but the last time we saw each other we discussed about everything,” Buemi told about Verstappen at the RacingNews365 podcast. “He’s passionate. He asked me a lot about Formula E, we spoke about WEC."
Following this, the former Red Bull man shared whether Verstappen might try Endurance Racing, being active in F1:
"But I’m sure, Formula 1 is extremely heavy. It’s a heavy schedule. It’s very difficult to commit to do Le Mans. But I know it’s just a matter of time until he actually does it.”
Max Verstappen is currently contesting for his fifth straight F1 trophy. However, the current scenario does not favor the Dutch driver, as Red Bull looks helpless before McLaren.
The Red Bull RB21 is no match for the McLaren MCL39s, and as a result, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are leading the world championship ahead of Max Verstappen. After nine races and two Sprints, Verstappen is trailing the title battle by 49 and 39 points, respectively.
Max Verstappen admits Le Mans connection from time to time
Last year, Max Verstappen revealed that he was approached by various teams to race for them in the World Endurance Racing's marquee event, the 24-Hour Le Mans. Without naming anyone in particular, here's what 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." (Via Motorsport).
Notably, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is a prestigious race in WEC, and multiple F1 drivers have taken part and won it, including two current drivers — Nico Hulkenberg (2015) and Fernando Alonso (2018 and 2019). Moreover, Kevin Magnussen, the former F1 driver, will drive in Le Mans this year.
