Max Verstappen eager for future Le Mans entry with his dad

Max Verstappen says he would like to race at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the future alongside his father, Jos.

Aston Martin announced last week that it would be returning to the top category at Le Mans in 2021, entering the Red Bull-designed Valkyrie car to the new hypercar-led class that will replace LMP1.

While Red Bull is yet to be announced as a partner for the programme, it is understood the possibility of its F1 drivers linking up with Aston Martin for the race in the future has been raised.

Asked by Crash.net about racing in the Valkyrie at Le Mans, Verstappen said it had not been discussed with him, but that he would like to do the race with his father, Jos.

“Well we haven't talked about it, but yes, my desire is to do Le Mans one day,” Verstappen said at Paul Ricard on Thursday.

“When it happens, I don't know. I'm talking to my dad as well, so he needs to train a bit! If I want to do Le Mans, I would like to do it with my dad.”

Jos Verstappen made two appearances at Le Mans in the past, winning the LMP2 class in 2008 with the Dutch Van Merksteijn Motorsport team. He also appeared in 2009 for Aston Martin Racing in a Lola-built LMP1 car, finishing 13th overall.

“I've watched it a lot, I've been there when my dad was driving. I think it's a very cool race,” Verstappen said of Le Mans.

“What I like is that you have so many different cars in categories, going through the traffic and stuff, especially in the night. I find that it is really amazing to drive.

“I've done one myself online! It's a lot of fun. I couldn't get enough of the night driving.”

Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer told Crash.net at Le Mans that he was expecting a significant amount of interest in driving the Valkyrie at Le Mans, making mention of F1 drivers crossing over to the endurance race such as Fernando Alonso, who clinched his second Le Mans win on Sunday.

"I don’t think we’re going to have a shortage of drivers volunteering to drive for us - quite the opposite, I suspect," Palmer said.

"What you want is drivers with ambition, don’t you? And there’s a lot of F1 drivers out there, like Alonso, that dream of having the big three.

"I imagine that’s an appealing proposition to some of them, and might be an appealing proposition for us. But we’re a long way from signing drivers yet."

Asked if he could do Le Mans while still racing in F1, Verstappen said it would be possible.

“If it doesn't clash. You saw Nico [Hulkenberg] do it, and he won it,” the Dutchman said.

“Of course I always want to win, but there's luck involved as well. It's such a long and crazy race. A lot of things can happen.”