{"id":660513,"date":"2026-05-09T20:51:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T20:51:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/660513\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T20:51:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T20:51:13","slug":"ford-wants-to-race-the-24-hours-of-le-mans-with-max-verstappen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/660513\/","title":{"rendered":"Ford wants to race the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Max Verstappen"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ford<\/a> is open to a future collaboration with Max Verstappen<\/a> in endurance racing. The American manufacturer sees the Dutchman as an ideal candidate for races like the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Mark Rushbrook says in an exclusive interview with GPblog.Ford will return in 2027 to the hyper class of the World Endurance Championship. Verstappen\u2019s name is coming up more and more often, given his fondness for endurance racing and the link with Ford via Red Bull Racing<\/a>. The four-time world champion has repeatedly indicated in recent years that, alongside Formula 1<\/a>, he wants to do more long-distance races, while next week he will also make his debut in the 24h Nurburgring.Ford wants to race the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Verstappen<\/p>\n

Speaking to GPblog, Rushbrook, director of Ford Performance, is asked whether Verstappen might be a logical candidate for Le Mans in the future. \u201cThat would be a great combination,\u201d Rushbrook responds immediately. The Formula 1 calendar naturally plays a role. The 24 Hours of Le Mans and several other major endurance races regularly clash with Grand Prix weekends. \u201cWe’ll see what the schedules look like for 2027 or beyond,\u201d the American says.<\/p>\n

In recent years, Verstappen has made no secret of his interest in endurance racing. The Dutchman is driving GT cars outside F1<\/a> more and more, and has already raced several times this season at the Nurburgring in GT3 machines. He also showcased his speed last year in a Ford Mustang GTD during a test day at Circuit du Grand Sambuc.Ford expresses appreciation for Verstappen<\/p>\n

That collaboration also appealed to Ford. \u201cMax is an incredible driver, he’s an incredible person,\u201d says Rushbrook. \u201cWe love the relationship with Formula 1.\u201d He also refers to earlier projects between Verstappen and Ford. \u201cWe love opportunities like when he drove the Mustang GTD at Grand Sambuc. There are a lot of other projects he’s done with us. It’s great to work with him. He’s a great person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Ford continues to work on its return to the very top of endurance racing. From 2027, the brand aims to compete with a hypercar in the WEC and fight for victory at Le Mans. Verstappen has previously indicated that this race is high on his wish list, provided his Formula 1 schedule allows it. The same goes for the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ford is open to a future collaboration with Max Verstappen in endurance racing. The American manufacturer sees the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":660514,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,35119,7604,813,816,1000,825,163010,946,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-660513","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-f1","11":"tag-f1-news","12":"tag-ford","13":"tag-formula-1","14":"tag-formula1","15":"tag-interview","16":"tag-max-verstappen","17":"tag-max-verstappen-nieuws","18":"tag-red-bull-racing","19":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=660513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660513\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/660514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=660513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=660513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=660513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}