Verstappen and Alonso discuss Le Mans partnership: 'We've talked about it'

Max Verstappen has revealed that he has spoken to Fernando Alonso about teaming up for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with the four-time world champion also telling BBC Sport that the race he has enjoyed most in 2026 was not even in Formula 1.

Asked directly about a potential Le Mans partnership with the two-time Le Mans winner, Verstappen confirmed conversations have taken place.

Alonso won Le Mans outright with Toyota in 2018 and 2019, pairing with Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima. The Spaniard also claimed the FIA World Endurance Championship during that campaign and remains the only driver to have won both the Formula 1 World Championship and the WEC. Verstappen told BBC Sport he eventually wants to tackle all major endurance races, including the Hypercar class, but stressed he does not want to rush it.

Verstappen's passion for racing beyond Formula 1 was underlined further when he was asked which race he had enjoyed most this season. Rather than naming a Grand Prix, he pointed to the Nurburgring 24 Hours, where he competed in May for Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing alongside Lucas Auer, Jules Gounon and Dani Juncadella.

Verstappen produced an impressive opening stint at the Nordschleife, climbing from tenth to first in tricky conditions after the track became slippery in drizzle. The team was comfortably leading with a gap of over 30 seconds before a driveshaft issue with around four hours remaining brought their challenge to a heartbreaking end. GPblog covered the full story of Verstappen's dramatic Nurburgring weekend at the time.

Verstappen's agreement with Red Bull allows him to pursue his interests outside of F1. In the same interview he explains his talks with Mercedes and McLaren and his concerns about the current cars being 'numb' to driver inputs, have been covered separately by GPblog.