The BMW driver, Robin Frijns, has hinted that Max Verstappen could make the leap to the World Endurance Championship (WEC) in the future, with a potential preference for the hypercar category.
Frijns recently returned to the Nurburgring-Nordschleife to participate in the third round of the Nurburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS), where he competed with the BMW M4 GT3 Evo from Schubert Motorsport, achieving a victory with a 21-second lead over the Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R.
Frijns’s next challenge will be the Nurburgring 24 Hours, which will take place from May 14 to 17, where Verstappen will also compete. The Formula 1 champion has already taken part in two GT3 races at Nordschleife and will participate in two more during the qualifying races this weekend.
Frijns remarked that he understands why Verstappen is dedicating more and more time to sports car racing. “In his position, I would do the same. I don’t think he’s enjoying it too much in Formula 1 currently,” he stated, adding that Verstappen has always felt an attraction to GT3 cars.
Regarding his participation in the Nurburgring 24 Hours, Frijns believes that Verstappen’s team could be a strong contender for the overall victory. “With the Mercedes he has a very powerful package, so he will undoubtedly go for the win,” he assured.
Impact on endurance racing
Thanks to Verstappen’s participation in the NLS, endurance racing has recently gained more attention. Frijns hopes that this trend will also benefit the WEC, where he competes with the BMW M V8 Hybrid LMDh. “It’s important that the WEC starts to grow again. Events like Imola, Spa, and Le Mans attract large crowds, but other races, like the recent one in Bahrain, are struggling,” he said.
A future adaptation to the hypercar category
Frijns has expressed optimism about the possibility of seeing Verstappen compete in the WEC in the coming years. “I think so, it’s logical that he wants to race in the top category. Personally, I’m not a big fan of GT3, but Verstappen is,” he pointed out.
Although both Formula 1 and hypercars are complex cars, Frijns does not foresee any difficulties for Verstappen to adapt. “Formula 1 is currently more complicated due to its numerous technologies and systems. The fundamentals of a hypercar are quite coherent, so I don’t think he will have trouble catching up,” he concluded.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
