One for you to be hopeful about
@Star. But you might need to start following WEC Sportscars (Le Mans etc).
Its very early days yet, way too soon to say it will happen, but this report in Autosport gives the current status. To say it is speculative is putting it mildly.
However, sustainable fuel is right up Seb's alley so to speak.
The good thing about the WEC my understanding is that the Hypercars at least use sustainable fuel. A bit about the fuel follows.
Vettel in talks with Jota Porsche team about 2024 WEC drive
Sebastian Vettel is in talks with the Jota Porsche team about making a return to the cockpit in the World Endurance Championship next season.
Jota team principal Sam Hignett confirmed to Autosport that the British operation has approached Vettel about joining its expanded two-car Hypercar class assault on the WEC in 2024 with a pair of Porsche 963 LMDh prototypes.
Hignett stressed that discussions with the German about a WEC drive and an attack on the Le Mans 24 Hours remain at an early stage and that no deal has been done.
“We are speaking to Seb, there are discussions, but nothing is done,” he said.
“There isn’t any kind of contract signed and he certainly hasn’t tested one of our cars.”
Vettel, who called time on his F1 career at the end of 2022, has refused to rule out the possibility of some kind of comeback.
He declared that he remained race fit earlier this month and said over the course of a visit to Suzuka for last weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix that he misses “the amazing feeling” of driving an F1 car.
But he poured cold water on a return to F1 in the short-term.
Asked if he was considering a comeback, he said: “Not for now: F1 was the centre to my life for so long, but once you step out, you realise even more how big the rest of the world is, and how small in a way F1 is.”
Jota has made it clear that it is in a position to pick and chose the line-up for its second 963 and that it does not require funded drivers.
The second car, like the first, will be backed by car hire giant Hertz in whose distinctive gold colours it races.
Hignett alluded to the environmental credentials of Jota as being part of its pitch to Vettel, who unveiled a number of bee hotels at Suzuka as part of his ambassadorial role with the BeesandApple environmental project.
“Sustainability is important to us as a team, which is why our hospitality unit at Le Mans was solar powered,” he said.
“We know that is important to Seb as well.”
Hignett revealed that Jota has a “long list of drivers” as it looks to put its two-car Hypercar assault together for next year.
“We are speaking to a lot of people, some who are high up on the list and some others who aren’t so high,” he said.
It is known that another F1 world champion in Jenson Button is on the list, while Hignett again confirmed that Robert Kubica, who is racing in the WEC in P2 with WRT this year, is in discussions with the team.
Jota, a three-time LMP2 class winner at Le Mans, returned to the top flight of sportscar racing this season with the first customer 963 to race in the WEC.
It has never made any secret of its plan to run two Porsches next year and confirmed earlier this month that it already has a second car on order for 2024.
https://www.autosport.com/wec/news/vett ... /10525612/
As promised, the bit about the fuel. As an aside, Total Energies sponsors Peugeot in Hypercars, but are the fuel supplier for all WEC Hypercars. (ie the Jota Porsche Team Vettel is talking to.)
TotalEnergies is the official fuel supplier for the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
TotalEnergies is therefore actively involved in the return of Peugeot Sport to the WEC from last year in the new Hypercar category. The company, via the Elf brand, is equally a partner of Alpine, which returned to LMP2 this year, before entering the Hypercar category in 2024
The ACO has recently redefined the rules for the WEC, introducing stricter constraints for the Hypercar category. Now, the objective is to achieve the best performance while minimising fuel consumption. This revolution reflects the current concerns of both manufacturers and motorists: consuming less and reducing their environmental footprint.
To meet these requirements, and following the Excellium Endurance which contained 10% ethanol from renewable sources (plant waste) and 5% of bio-hydrocarbons, our engineers have created after several months of research and testing, a formula that no longer contains a single drop of petrol: Excellium Racing 100.
Due to its 100% natural origin, Excellium Racing 100 will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars on the track by at least 65%**.
Excellium Racing 100 is a true innovation made possible by our engineers’ expertise, and ties into the common values that the company shares with the FIA, namely safety, hybridisation, reduced consumption, low-carbon mobility, etc. As partner and official fuel supplier to the ACO (Automobile Club de l’Ouest), TotalEnergies is again proving its pioneering spirit and quest for performance.
This new fuel, approved by all our stakeholders thanks to the testing phases and discussions with constructors and legislators (FIA, ACO), is now supplied to all competitors in the FIA WEC, including for the 24 Hours of Le Mans and European Le Mans Series.
https://competition.totalenergies.com/e ... %20Sebring.
