WEC increasingly attractive: When will Verstappen make the switch?
- Ludo van Denderen
With Ford's announcement to enter the hyperclass class of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) as a manufacturer, the FIA's endurance championship has once again become a lot more interesting. Max Verstappen will no doubt follow the developments in the series with great interest, as sooner or later he would like to make the switch to this series. And with so many major manufacturers present on the grid, it might just happen sooner rather than later.
Although Lamborghini have decided to pull the plug on their hypercar project, with Aston Martin another interesting brand will join in their place in 2025. Moreover, a year later, Hyundai-branded Genesis will become another WEC manufacturer, who are then followed in 2027 by Ford. Together with veterans like Toyota and Porsche, plus more recently joined manufacturers Ferrari, Peugeot, Cadillac, Alpine and BMW, it is now a quite competitive grid.
WEC serious alternative to F1
Manufacturers have realised that the level of WEC has increased enormously in recent years, resulting in interest growth from both fans and also certainly drivers. Drivers who do not (or no longer) compete in Formula 1 are invariably looking at a seat at one of the WEC teams, where excellent salaries are now being paid. WEC is expected to develop further into a serious alternative to Formula 1 in the coming season; both sporting and commercially.
Max Verstappen has already regular expressed that he wants to make the switch to endurance racing after his F1 career. He can't really avoid the WEC, especially with the hypercars that can now easily compete with F1 cars in terms of speed.
There is regular speculation about which team Verstappen would race for. It all depends on when the Dutchman will indeed make the move: If that is in the short term, then projects like Aston Martin or Ford are not attractive - finances aside. Look at how hard the 'latest' teams that joined are struggling to keep up with Porsche and Toyota. Ferrari are the onlyexception, having already won the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice, although the team have only been competing in the hypercar category since the 2023 season.
Verstappen, however, is in no hurry. His contract with Red Bull Racing in Formula 1 expires at the end of 2028, when the WEC teams will already have gained the necessary extra years of experience. Chances are that the differences between them will have become extremely small by then, making the championship even more attractive.
This article was written in collaboration with Kada Sárközi
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