Ford issue official statement as Max Verstappen Le Mans rumours swirl

F1 fans are well aware that Max Verstappen is a big fan of getting some extracurricular racing into his schedule, but they might still have to wait a while for him to enter the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Ears pricked up this week when it was revealed that there will be no F1 race clashing with the iconic endurance event this year, leaving the door theoretically open for the Dutchman to cross over.

Verstappen entered his first 24hr race earlier this year at the Nurburgring, with his team being robbed of a potential victory when technical issues struck with just a few hours remaining.

Unfortunately for his prospects of a 2027 Le Mans drive, Ford have told GPFans that there are no plans for Verstappen to jump into their brand new hypercar for the mid-June race next year, severely lessening his chances of entry.

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"At this moment," Ford said, "there are no plans to have Max drive the Ford Racing hypercar at Le Mans next year."

Ford are Verstappen's most likely partner for a Le Mans drive at present, with the Dutchman considered unlikely to race below the very top class in the race and his Verstappen Racing team lacking the kind of oomph to support a hypercar entry.

Verstappen spoke just last week - before the F1 schedule announcement - about the possibility of running Le Mans alongside fellow F1 champion Fernando Alonso at some point in the future, admitting: "We've talked about it.

"I mean, look at Fernando. He's 45 and he's still flying. Especially for Le Mans, with his experience, it could be a good option. It needs to fit our schedules. It needs to make sense. It needs to be on my terms. And there needs to be a real chance to go there and win it."

Spa a more likely Verstappen landing spot

A much more likely candidate for a Verstappen endurance race next year would by the 24 Hours of Spa, set for late June on the weekend between F1 races in Portugal and Great Britain.

“I wish that I could race in Spa as well," the four-time F1 champion said earlier this summer.

"I told them already for next year. It would be ideal if they could schedule it outside of a Formula 1 weekend, so let’s see.”

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