Vettel Not Ruled Out for Porsche Le Mans Drive in Third 963

Photo: Porsche

Sebastian Vettel has not been ruled out as a potential candidate for Porsche Penske Motorsport’s earmarked third Hypercar entry for next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans according to Porsche LMDh factory director Urs Kuratle, who stressed that a decision has not yet been taken.

The German manufacturer is poised to have three factory Porsche 963s on the grid for the third consecutive year at Le Mans, with the additional entry this time having been secured through winning the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP title that awards an automatic invite to the French endurance classic.

With Porsche consolidating its factory 963 driver pool from ten to eight drivers for next year, it leaves one open seat for the third car, alongside Nick Tandy and reigning IMSA GTP champion Felipe Nasr.

“We are short of one driver, that is mathematically true,” Kuratle told Sportscar365.

“We have to think about it, obviously, when we came up with that decision. That’s something we’re evaluating but there’s no name there.

“There’s nothing set yet; it’s not decided, but obviously we have it in our mind.”

When asked if Vettel, who was touted as a potential option to contest this year’s race with Porsche, having completed an endurance test at Motorland Aragon with the team, could be a possibility, Kuratle said: “I’m not ruling it out.”

He added: “Sebastian and Porsche AG, they have a friendly relationship. They talk to each other. I cannot rule it out at the moment but it’s not set.”

Kuratle admitted that its third Le Mans entry has not yet even been formally confirmed within Porsche, although he indicated that he expects it to be approved in the coming weeks.

“We are looking for the process of how to get it granted,” he said. “By winning the IMSA championship we have the third entry.

“It’s a little bit different operations and a bit more costs. We have to have discussions with Porsche internally.

“It’s not 100 percent sure yet; we have to discuss it with Porsche internally first and agree with everybody, but we have the entry, which is the biggest roadblock usually to get the third car at Le Mans.

“That one is granted now. All of the rest of the steps we will do. But I think we can expect Porsche to have three cars at Le Mans.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John