Vandoorne Envisioning “Long-Term Future” in Endurance

Stoffel Vandoorne says he can see himself committing to a long-term future in sports car racing once he steps away from Formula E, although the Belgian added that he thinks he has “a few more years left” in the electric single seater series.

Vandoorne will make his full-time return to the FIA World Endurance Championship this year, stepping up to join Peugeot’s Hypercar effort in a racing capacity after previously serving as reserve driver.

It will mark the first time since 2021 that he will embark on a full season in WEC, when he raced alongside Sean Gelael and Tom Blomqvist as part of JOTA’s LMP2 team.

He made one race start with Peugeot in WEC last year, standing in for an injured Nico Mueller at the 6 Hours of Fuji. He also drove the Peugeot 9X8 at the post-season Bahrain rookie test.

The Belgian has primarily competed in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in addition to his appearances in sports car racing, where he notably won the world title in the 2021-22 season with Mercedes.

Last year he signed on to join the DS Penske team, which falls under the same Stellantis umbrella as Peugeot’s WEC operation, and was retained ahead of his seventh consecutive Formula E season which is set to kick off later this month.

Vandoorne told Sportscar365 that he has “definitely got a few more years left” in the electric open wheel championship, but that he can see himself commit more fully to endurance racing as his career progresses.

“It’s still nice, I still love the single seaters,” Vandoorne said.

“You kind of have your own car and it’s a different dynamic of working. When you have a sprint race format race everything is very into details, finetuning your setup to your liking.

“There is still some art to that as well and that’s what I still enjoy doing. I’ll keep doing that as long as I feel motivated, competitive and I can be there.

“And then I definitely see a long-term future in endurance cars as well. Maybe it’s possible to do that for a little bit longer.”

The 31-year-old added that he believes there’s more longevity to be found in sports car racing, citing “different pressure” compared to the single-driver format found in Formula E.

“In Formula E it feels like every lap you do, every session, the pressure is on,” he said.

“You’ve got to perform. That’s pretty much the same everywhere, you always got to perform once you jump in the car.

“But it’s a different team dynamic because you’ve got three drivers, you’re spending a lot of time with each other. It kind of feels a little bit more relaxed, let’s say. Because it’s not just the pure focus on you.

“I think experience helps as well in endurance racing. A lot of these races they are very tricky, especially Le Mans.

“I would say if there’s weather involved and the conditions are difficult as we saw this year, experience definitely can make a difference.”

Vandoorne also expressed interest in a potential return to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, where he made a one-off appearance with Meyer Shank Racing in the 2022 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

He pointed to the Rolex 24 at Daytona and Motul Petit Le Mans as particular races of interests, but stressed that it would need to fit within his already busy schedule that also includes test and reserve driver duties for the Aston Martin Formula 1 operation.

“I think more Daytona than Sebring probably I would like to do,” Vandoorne said.

“The problem is that Daytona always clashes with Formula E. That’s a race I would love to do. Petit Le Mans I would love to do as well, but I mean I’m busy enough already with Formula E, WEC then a bit of work with Aston Martin as well.

“There’s not many days left in the year I’d say but I’d say probably in the future when maybe I focus more on only endurance racing that could be could be viable or a possibility.

“I like IMSA racing. I’ve done one race there, it’s a complete different style of racing. Very intense and I think it kind of gives more opportunity for everyone to be in the race and you’ve got to be there at the end let’s say.”