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Aston Martin's CEO Andy Palmer has admitted that the British marque has a desire to lure Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen to the 24 Hours of Le Mans - as they enter the hypercar class for the 2020/2021 season.
Palmer admitted that "there is a conversation to be had" with the 21-year-old Dutchman, who already has seven Grand Prix wins to his name.
A potential Verstappen/Aston Martin partnership is made possible due to the strong relationship the World Endurance Championship outfit holds with Verstappen's Formula 1 employer, Red Bull.
This has left Aston Martin branding prominently displayed on the Milton-Keynes squads car, culminating in the 007 livery that was displayed on Verstappen's Red Bull at Silverstone.
"Philosophically or theoretically I'd love to have him involved [at Le Mans]," said Aston Martin boss Andy Palmer to Autosport. "He's not formally involved but it's not ruled out either. That's a conversation to be had in the future. But wouldn't it be great?"
Aston aims to further their own Valkyrie that saw its debut run at Silverstone on the British Grand Prix weekend, releasing a racing version as they aim to challenge the Toyota Gazoo Racing monopoly that WEC's premier class currently resides in.
The Valkyrie project itself has Red Bull links intertwined into its core, with Adrian Newey and Red Bull's advanced technologies. This fact surely furthers the potential Verstappen/Aston link up on the horizon.
The Dutchman has also expressed an interest in a potential Le Mans effort with his father Jos Verstappen. However, whether or not this interest would lead to a fully-fledged effort with Aston Martin remains to be seen.
Verstappen himself would be attempting to follow in the footsteps of his former F1 contemporary, Fernando Alonso, in winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans on his debut in the Endurance racing classic. Also, leveling the Spaniard on two-thirds of the triple crown.
Red alert going off. I guess they didn't watch his performance at the 24 hours of Spa in the simulator over the weekend. Seriously though if I was a WEC team I would want to let him mature a bit more before I risk my car and race on a win or die trying kind of driver. Endurance is a different kind of racing where you have to think about the long game, and as always you have to finish to win.
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Ram Samartha
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Red alert going off. I guess they didn't watch his performance at the 24 hours of Spa in the simulator over the weekend. Seriously though if I was a WEC team I would want to let him mature a bit more before I risk my car and race on a win or die trying kind of driver. Endurance is a different kin... [Read more]