Vanwall Replaces Villeneuve With Vautier for Le Mans

Floyd Vanwall Racing Team has altered its driver lineup for the 24 Hours of Le Mans with 1997 Formula 1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve being replaced by Tristan Vautier.

The team on Thursday confirmed that Villeneuve will not take part in the fourth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship season after he contested the opening three races in the Hypercar class.

The Canadian had a rocky start to his WEC career, which included altercations with separate AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evos during the Prologue test at Sebring and the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, and an accident after a brake explosion at Portimao.

It is understood that those incidents, and a lack of mileage for Villeneuve, contributed to the ByKolles-run team making a decision to adjust its lineup.

Vautier will share the No. 4 Vanwall Vandervell 680 Gibson with Tom Dillmann and Esteban Guerrieri, who teamed up with Villeneuve for the opening three WEC races.

“The situation is that we don’t feel that he [Villeneuve] is ready to go to Le Mans,” Kolles told Sportscar365.

“His wife is pregnant and they are expecting the baby now, at the beginning of June.

“Le Mans is a big race. We cannot take the risk. For personal reasons and due to the fact that also the mileage is lacking, we decided to have a new driver which will be Tristan Vautier.”

Vautier has raced extensively in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and won the 2021 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring with JDC-Miller Motorsports.

The Frenchman currently drives for Algarve Pro Racing in the European Le Mans Series LMP2 Pro-Am class and made his Le Mans debut last year in the same category with ARC Bratislava.

The 100th-anniversary edition of Le Mans on June 10-11 will be Vautier’s first race appearance with the ByKolles organization, as well as his first outing in an LMH car.

“We met in Sebring and then we were thinking about options,” said Kolles.

“I think this is the best choice for us at the moment.

“We need a solid result. This is the target. You never know what happens, obviously, but it’s my job to minimize the risks.”

Vanwall has a reserve driver in former DTM competitor Esteban Muth but Kolles explained that the team wants to have a more experienced lineup for Le Mans.

“Esteban Muth is a young, talented driver,” he said. “But we cannot risk to go with somebody who has even less mileage, in terms of experience in traffic.”

Kolles indicated that the Vanwall crew is only confirmed for Le Mans at this stage despite Villeneuve being named on the provisional entry list for the 6 Hours of Monza.

The team, including Villeneuve, recently took part in a three-day test at the Italian circuit that was also attended by Porsche Penske Motorsport and Ferrari AF Corse.

New signing Vautier is set to get his first mileage in the Vandervell 680 during the official Le Mans test day on June 4.