Verstappen to switch to endurance racing? 'I'm sure he will'

21:46, 15 May

bySavannah Lenz

One hot topic of Thursday's media day was Max Verstappen's test on the Nordschleife. One of the many drivers to be asked was Fernando Alonso.

Alonso's endurance history

Verstappen has been very vocal about his love for endurance racing and his desire to one day participate in it. Alonso has a history of quitting Formula 1 and going on to compete in the World Endurance Championship. The Spaniard won Le Mans twice with Toyota.

When asked if he would like to try out GT3 endurance racing, Alonso said, "I did, in a way, you know, my life out of F1 when I was tired of being here and being just a secondary actor. I was not really a protagonist in 2016, 17, and 18."

"I wanted to try something different outside Formula 1, and I had great experiences. In other categories, you get the fun of driving without the rest of everything that Formula 1 has, and I'm sure he had a great time there."

The 2025 Formula 1 season marks Alonso's 21st season in F1. With his sights set on better results with his team, Aston Martin, he rules out switching to another series.

"For me, it's not the priority at the moment, but I cannot say what I will do in the future. The endurance racing, 24-hour races, are always fun."

Alonso continued, "You share the car with all the drivers, there is a lot of team spirit on it, and team building in the way you go to racing, and yes, he's a great fan."

He added, "I hope he enjoys it and does something maybe after Formula 1 because he's also a racer and he prefers to be driving than doing anything else, as we can see in the simulator sessions that he does"

"I'm sure he will do some other series and we will watch."

This article was written in collaboration with Nicole Mulder.