One target in WEC: Max Verstappen – all teams hope to sign him

While Max Verstappen is staying a few hundred kilometers away, his name still comes up frequently in the Italian paddock of the World Endurance Championship (WEC). After all, in recent weeks the Dutchman has loudly and clearly professed his love for endurance racing. Granted, it’s been at the Nürburgring, but that enthusiasm rubs off on WEC, GPblog hears.

No matter whom you speak to - drivers, team members, or media - everyone praises Verstappen for how he has become an ambassador for endurance racing. It goes beyond the positive remarks he regularly makes about driving at the Nürburgring; above all, it’s the fact that he himself takes part in this type of event.

One of the prominent drivers in WEC, which opens its season this weekend with the 6 Hours of Imola, explains off the record that often-uninformed Formula 1 fans tune into an endurance race because of Verstappen and discover that this branch of motorsport also delivers spectacle.

In fact, the battles are sometimes even better, some would say with “fewer artificial overtakes” than Formula 1. Fans who start watching thanks to Verstappen may stick with endurance racing, then tune into WEC as well, or even buy a ticket to a race.

In recent years, WEC has taken off massively, with top manufacturers having joined or planning to join the hypercar class. McLaren and Ford, for example, will enter the championship in 2027.

For all teams in WEC, what once seemed an unthinkable dream suddenly feels within reach: bringing Max Verstappen to the championship. Should the Dutchman decide to leave Formula 1 (even temporarily), every single hypercar team would make an attempt to reel in the four-time world champion, GPblog gathers from conversations in the paddock.

Even if Verstappen remains active in F1, the FIA and the WEC organization would do well to cater to Verstappen’s wishes—along with those of other drivers who are suddenly racing GT cars (for instance, Lance Stroll).

A first step could be to avoid scheduling the 24 Hours of Le Mans to clash with Formula 1, giving F1 drivers the chance to take part. Max Verstappen is expected to be the first to head to the French venue aiming for victory in a hypercar. If Verstappen does it, more will follow, or so the expectation goes.

Familiar faces like Verstappen’s would give the 24 Hours of Le Mans even more exposure, benefiting everyone within WEC.

At Imola this Thursday, everyone agrees this scenario will eventually come to pass. Only the timing is in question. WEC, for its part, hopes it will be as soon as possible.