F1 Stars Verstappen, Norris Team Up for Virtual 24H Le Mans

Formula 1 stars Max Verstappen and Lando Norris will share a car in next month’s virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans, as teams continue to announce their driver lineups for the race.

Verstappen, who drives for Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, and McLaren driver Norris will represent leading esports operation Team Redline alongside sim racing champions Greger Huttu and Atze Kerkoff.

Both Verstappen and Norris are avid sim enthusiasts and have been active in a wide range of competitions in the recent absence of real-world motorsport.

They will now take on the virtual Le Mans event on June 13-14, competing in the top class with an Oreca 07 Gibson.

Norris is the only member of the Redline crew to have contested a real-world 24-hour race before, taking part in the 2018 Rolex 24 at Daytona with United Autosports.

Team Redline is also supporting the two Jota Sport virtual Le Mans LMP2 entries.

Both of these lineups have been filled out, with IndyCar star Felix Rosenqvist and Formula E points leader Antonio Felix da Costa sharing one of the Orecas with professional esports competitors Rudy van Buren and Kevin Siggy.

The other Jota/Redline crew involves LMP2 regulars Will Stevens and Gabriel Aubry who are teaming up with Redline sim racers Dominik Farber and Aleksi Uusi-Jaakkola.

European Le Mans Series outfit Panis Racing’s two-car, eight-man operation has also been outlined with team founder and 1996 Monaco Grand Prix winner Olivier Panis set to share a car with his son and Andros Trophy ace Aurelien Panis.

Adam Pinczes and Nuno Pinto will be their co-drivers, while Tristan Vautier and Nico Jamin will partner with Hany Alsabti and Thibault Cazaubon in the team’s other car.

Team WRT has also unveiled its LMP2 lineup, featuring Audi GT3 aces Kelvin van der Linde and Dries Vanthoor.

They will share driving duties with Fabrice Cornelis and Arne Schoonvliet.

One more GTE outfit has confirmed its crew composition after the Porsche factory team and Strong Together named their squads in the first wave of announcements. 

Mercedes-AMG factory driver Daniel Juncadella will team up with 2018 Le Mans podium finisher Mathias Beche, as well as sim racers Risto Kappet and Erhan Jajovski in a Chevrolet Corvette C7.R entered by R8G Esports Team.

A total of 14 lineups have now been set in stone, while some more of the remaining 36 are set to be revealed in the next couple of days.