What Does Max Verstappen Make of a Le Mans Drive With Daniel Ricciardo?

Max Verstappen has responded to Daniel Ricciardo’s query about a potential Le Mans 24 Hours stint.

In the build-up to the F1Mexico GP weekend, the Beyond the Grid podcast featured Ricciardo in the hot seat for the first time, opening up about life after Formula 1 and the dreaded end in Singapore. It left him humiliated, and he explained why.

The Australian certainly wants to return, but probably for a one-off race like the Le Mans 24 Hours rather than anything else, to find closure on his terms. He is not ready for anything full-time as he is already burned out from racing.

But a one-off, sharing data and everything with a proper teammate, would perk him up. Who can be his teammates, though? Sergio Perez popped up as a popular pairing of Red Bull‘s Verstappen and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, which Ricciardo is up for as well.

Ricciardo Names His Potential Le Mans Teammates

He does put Verstappen on his list and the second one could be Sebastian Vettel if he is up for it. “On the racing front, like, yeah, that’s something that a year ago, I would have said, ‘I will never put a helmet on again, I am done, that’s it,'” said Ricciardo. “But there’s something there; I am like, it’d be nice to also for me to, I guess, like, finish a racing career a bit more on my terms.

“So, to do something, when I take the helmet off, I am smiling and happy, and maybe that’s the last bit of closure I need. I mean, the thought of doing a full championship or something just still doesn’t really sound that exciting. Probably a one-off, like a one-off Le Mans 24 Hours.

“[With Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso] that seems like a popular choice. I feel he doesn’t have to; I don’t want to put pressure on him, but no, obviously Max is the name that would be high on the list. Actually, him winning in car number three made me feel a certain way, in a good way.

“I’ll say Max is one that could, yeah, we talked about Red Bull, obviously, in 2018 and what if. I was trying to get back to the team at the end of my career, so maybe that’s a way that we could, yeah, give the people what they want,” summed up Ricciardo, who had been teammates with Verstappen until the 2018 F1 season.

Verstappen Says Ricciardo is Smart to Choose Him

But is Verstappen up for it? The Dutchman was asked about it during his media session at the F1 Mexico GP. The four-time champion joked about Ricciardo being a smart man to choose him. But he ruled himself out for the time being due to lack of time, with involvement in Formula 1 and also GT racing.

“He’s a smart man to choose me in the car, but we have to see,” said Verstappen. “It just depends on a lot of things. Also, for me, like, if I want to do it, I want to do it properly with really good prep, and at the moment I cannot do that.

“I don’t have the time, the free time, to dedicate to a Le Mans project with all the other things that I’m also doing outside of Formula One,” summed up Verstappen, who noted that they do talk sometimes, but he reiterated that to do it properly, it will need time and effort, for which there is little in his hands at the moment.

Verstappen Left it on Timing

He left it to the timing of things because Verstappen wants to race, not just to race, but to win. “This is not new to me, of course,” he said. “Also, I think either from my side or his side, like I don’t think we are the types that always need to share everything, right?

“We talk about a lot of things in the background, and yeah, I mean, I think he said it himself, like he doesn’t see himself coming back for like a whole season. But the one-off can interest him, and I mean, why not? But again, I think if we do something like that, then you’re for sure agreeing that it needs to be proper.

“It needs to be before a chance to win, before a chance to win against people that do it, a whole season. You need to be prepared really well, so yeah, you just need to find the right timing,” summed up Verstappen.