Porsche Keeps Door Open for Vettel's Endurance Future

Porsche may still team up with Vettel for future endurance races, despite this year’s Le Mans decision.

Porsche has explained why Sebastian Vettel will not be driving for them at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The four-time F1 world champion tested a Porsche 963 at Aragon earlier this year—a highly publicized test between a German legend and a renowned German manufacturer.

However, Porsche has since confirmed that Mathieu Jaminet, Nick Tandy, and Felipe Nasr will be behind the wheel of their car No. 4 at the iconic endurance race.

Porsche LMDh Director Urs Kuratle explained why Vettel was not selected.

“We had discussions and it did not work out for Le Mans this year for various reasons.”

“It’s partly due to how you can prepare for Le Mans, and it didn’t work out. The time spent in the car would have been limited, and we couldn’t have done much more with the test ban we have.”

“I’m not blaming the test ban, but in the situation we find ourselves in, we can’t have a third car here [at Spa] for example, as we did in the past. The situation was simply not favorable.”

Kuratle left the door open for future collaboration with Vettel.

“It’s possible. The book is not closed, but we also don’t know how things will move forward.”

“It’s not because we don’t want to, or he doesn’t want to, simply because discussions about the future have not yet taken place.”