General
Vettel decides on Le Mans, Drugovic makes debut
- Ludo van Denderen
Will he do it or won't he? That was the big question for a long time, after Sebastian Vettel tested a Porsche hypercar, fuelling rumours that the German might drive the 24 Hours of Le Mans. But unfortunately for his fans: Vettel has decided not to compete in the world's most important endurance race, at least this season. Vettel's name is therefore missing from the entry list for the race in France in June.
One notable name that does compete is Felipe Drugovich. The current Aston Martin reserve driver was admitted by wildcard and will race for Cadillac. In that team, the Brazilian will be joined by Jack Aitken, among others. The Briton drove one Grand Prix in Formula 1 in 2020, replacing George Russell in Sakhir for Williams.
2023 winners, Antonio Giovinazzi, Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado will return with there Ferrari AF Corse with the #51 on it. From the LMP2 winner, Jakub Smiechowski will drive again for Inter Europol, but with two new partners, Vladislav Lomko and former F2 driver Clement Novalak.
The participants feature the names of several ex-Formula 1 drivers. For instance, Sebastien Bourdais, Sebastien Buemi, Felipe Nasr, Nyck de Vries, Paul di Resta, Mick Schumacher, Romain Grosjean, Kamui Kobayashi, Brendon Hartley, Robin Frijns, Robert Kubica, Antonio Giovinazzi, Will Stevens, Jean-Eric Vergne, Stoffel Vandoorne and 2009 world champion Jenson Button will all be there at the start.
Drivers from the IndyCar circuit also appear. Together with Romain Grosjean, former champions Scott Dixon and Alex Palou, and British driver Callum Ilott will also come over to Europe from the American competition.
In the LMGT3 category, the Iron Dames will return with an all-female line-up once again. F1 Academy driver Doriane Pin will drive alongside Sarah Bovy and Michelle Gatting.