Max Verstappen has finally addressed Daniel Ricciardo's desire to form a dream team partnership for the prestigious Le Mans 24 Hours endurance race. The discussion surrounding a potential collaboration came to light after the Australian driver publicly named his former Red Bull Racing teammate as his top choice should he make a one-off return to motorsport.
Ricciardo, who has remained sidelined from racing since his departure from the Formula 1 grid following the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, revealed his ambition during an appearance on F1's Beyond the Grid podcast. Despite announcing his retirement from full-time racing last September, the 37-year-old admitted he would jump at the chance to share a cockpit at La Sarthe with the four-time world champion.
'I don’t want to put pressure on him, but obviously Max is a name that would be high on the list,' Ricciardo stated while discussing the prospect of a legendary endurance outing. Responding to the suggestion ahead of the Mexico City Grand Prix, Verstappen joked that his former teammate was simply being smart by selecting him.
'He's a smart man to choose me in the car,' Verstappen told media in Mexico City, as reported by Crash.net. However, the Dutch star was quick to emphasize that tackling an event as demanding as Le Mans requires meticulous preparation and proper timing amidst his packed schedule.
'But we have to see. It just depends on a lot of things. Also for me, if I want to do it, I want to do it properly with really good prep. At the moment I cannot do that. I don't have the free time to dedicate to a Le Mans project with all the other things that I'm also doing outside of Formula 1,' Verstappen explained.
Verstappen further confirmed that the pair had already held private conversations regarding a future Le Mans entry prior to Ricciardo's podcast appearance. He stressed that any potential joint venture must be approached with the sole objective of fighting for victory against seasoned endurance specialists.
'Yeah, we have spoken,' Verstappen said. 'But also, I think either from my side or his side, I don't think we are the types that always need to share everything. We talk about a lot of things in the background. If we do something like that, he will for sure agree that it needs to be proper. It needs to be for a chance to win against people that do it a whole season.'
Beyond the prospect of pairing up with Ricciardo, Verstappen's name has also been linked in discussions regarding potential Le Mans superteams alongside other world champions such as Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, keeping the endurance racing community hooked on future possibilities.
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