“The book is not closed” on Sebastien Vettel competing in Hypercar with Porsche in the future, according to Porsche’s director of factory racing Urs Kuratle, following the decision by the German brand to leave the four-time Formula 1 World Champion out of its driver line-up for the Le Mans 24 Hours this year.
Speaking with the media at Spa-Francorchamps today, Kuratle explained that “the situation was just not right” for him to make his Le Mans debut next month.
Vettel was tipped to compete in the third factory Porsche at La Sarthe following a recent test at Motorland Aragon in which he completed 118 laps as part of Porsche’s pre-Le Mans preparations.
Kuratle was light on specific details but confirmed that there had been discussions about a Le Mans drive for Vettel. It didn’t work out “for some reasons” he said simply.
“It’s partly how you can prepare for it, and it didn’t come together,” Kuratle continued. “The time in the car would have been limited and there’s not much more with the test ban we have.
“I’m not blaming the test ban, but in the situation we are in, we are not able to have a third car here for example, to do things like we used to in the past.”
Looking ahead, however, Kuratle said Vettel “could be” part of the brand’s Hypercar/GTP effort in the future, though currently there are no concrete plans for him to test the 963 again.
“It would be stupid to close a book like this, from either side,” he said. “The book is not closed, but it’s also not defined how it continues, that’s all.
“It’s not because we don’t want to, or he doesn’t want to (test the 963 a second time), it’s simply because the discussions have not been done.”
With no Vettel for Le Mans, Porsche has opted to compete with an identical trio to last year in its third 963, with Mathieu Jaminet, Nick Tandy and Felipe Nasr set to share the wheel of the #4.
Like last year, Kuratle admitted that the toughest part of the decision-making process was choosing which driver would be named as the nominated reserve for Le Mans.
Porsche has 10 contracted full-time GTP and Hypercar drivers, but only nine seats to fill for Le Mans, meaning one driver will be forced to sit out the 24-hour race again.
This year Dane Cameron is serving as the reserve, after Matt Campbell took on that role for the centenary race.
“The easy bit is that we have four of the best drivers in the USA in the IMSA team, and to bring those guys over to Le Mans, that’s a no-brainer. That car, with these guys, will be one of the best driver line-ups in the complete pitlane,” Kuratle said.
“The not-easy part is that you have to decide who is not driving. You have to announce who is the one not driving, and all 10 have the experience and the possibility to perform really well at Le Mans.
“But, at the end of the day, we are not expecting a Nobel Prize for this decision. We can’t forget with Felipe we have a Daytona winner, and with Tandy we have a Le Mans winner already.”
Featured image courtesy of Porsche