Max Verstappen has joked that former Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo is a “smart man” for picking him in a potential trio for a future Le Mans 24 Hour challenge.
Ricciardo has not taken part in any racing series since leaving F1 for the second time having raced for Red Bull’s sister RB squad in 2024.
However, speaking on the Beyond the Grid podcast, the Australian race winner suggested that he would be tempted to take part in a future edition of the 24-hour race around La Circuit de la Sarthe in France, highlighting Verstappen and another former Red Bull team-mate in Sebastian Vettel as a dream line-up.
“I don’t want to put pressure on him, but obviously Max is a name that would be high on the list,” replied Ricciardo when asked who he would choose for a partnership.
“We talked about Red Bull obviously in 2018, and what if, and what if; I was trying to get back at the team at the end of my career, so maybe that’s a way that we could give the people what they want.”
Verstappen has previously mentioned a desire to one day compete at Le Mans and has dovetailed his F1 priorities with outings in GT racing, taking part in this year’s Nurburgring 24 Hours and the GT World Challenge finale at Portimao.
Asked ahead of this weekend’s Mexico City GP about Ricciardo’s comments, Verstappen replied: “He’s a smart man to choose me in the car.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Mark Thompson / Getty Images
“But we have to see. It just depends on a lot of things. Also for me, if I want to do it, I want to do it properly with really good prep.
“At the moment I cannot do that. I don’t have the free time to dedicate to a Le Mans project with all the other things that I’m also doing outside of Formula 1.”
Ricciardo’s suggestion that Le Mans could be on the table is the first time he has revealed a desire to get back into a race car publicly, though Verstappen revealed that the news was “not new to me” having conversed with Ricciardo.
“Yeah, we have spoken,” confirmed the four-time world champion.
“But also, I think either from my side or his side, I don’t think we are the types that always need to share everything. We talk about a lot of things in the background.
“I think he said it himself. He doesn’t see himself coming back for a whole season but the one-offs can interest him. Why not? But again, I think if we do something like that, he will for sure agree that it needs to be proper. It needs to be for a chance to win.
“For a chance to win against people that do it a whole season, you need to be prepared really well. You just need to find the right timing.”
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