No matter whom you speak to, whether it be drivers, team members, or media, Verstappen is being praised in the world of endurance racing for having become an ambassador for the sport.

While the World Endurance Championship gets underway this weekend at the six hours at Imola, from conversations in the paddock, GPblog understands that every single hypercar team would make an attempt to reel in the four-time world champion, as speculation over his immediate F1 future continues to swirl.

Verstappen himself is in racing action this weekend, set to to take part in the ADAC 24 Hours Nürburgring Qualifiers, ahead of the full race next month.

WEC has enjoyed a surge of popularity in recent years, with top manufacturers having joined or planning to join the hypercar class, including both McLaren and Ford in 2027.

Elsewhere, Ollie Bearman has slammed Alpine's Franco Colapinto for his role in the Haas driver's 50G shunt at the Japanese Grand Prix, calling a move made by the Argentine "unacceptable."

Approaching Colapinto's recharging Alpine at Spoon Curve at Suzuka, Bearman was caught out by a closing speed of up to 50km/h, and took avoiding action onto the grass, and into the barrier after reaching 191mph.

The accident led to several drivers raising further safety concerns surrounding F1 2026's energy management rules, and forced the FIA to make a statement clarifying that a review into the new regulations would take place.

Speaking on the Up to Speed podcast, Bearman blamed Colapinto for moving across him prior to the corner.

He explained: "Franco moved across in front of me to defend his position. Last year would have been absolutely on the limit but probably OK with just a 5 or 10 kph speed delta. But with 50 kph, he did not leave me enough space and I had to avoid a much bigger crash.

“Basically, when he moved left, it was small, but at that speed difference, any move is huge. So I was lucky to not hit him. It would have been much, much worse if I did."

The main source of frustration for Bearman is that the drivers had previously spoken about giving each other "more respect" at the corners, with F1's new challenges around energy management to keep in mind.

Bearman added: "I think it was something we spoke about on Friday, which is even a bit more of a frustrating thing. We said between all the drivers, come on, we need to give each other a bit more respect.“

"Yeah, move to defend your position with a bit more time because the speed deltas are much higher than we’ve ever had in our sport and then two days later that happens which for me was unacceptable."