“I hope he gets in my car…” – Former F1 driver wishes Max Verstappen would try a new type of racing with him
A former Formula 1 driver has encouraged Max Verstappen to try out a new kind of racing outside of F1, following some regular chats with a racing team boss.
Mark Rushbrook, the head of Ford Motor Company, shared that he’s talked with the four-time F1 champion quite a few times recently. Ford is set to return to F1 in 2026, teaming up with Red Bull on their Red Bull Powertrains program. Although Ford has never entered F1 as its own team, they’ve had great success in sports car and endurance racing over the years.
Starting in 2027, Ford plans to compete in the hypercar class of the World Endurance Championship (WEC), including at the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans race. Verstappen will be racing for the first time in the 24 Hours of Nurburgring later this month, driving a GT3 car. Rushbrook hopes Verstappen will get involved in Ford’s WEC project at some point.
He told Motorsport.com, “We really like Max—both how he drives and who he is off the track. We talk with him often about opportunities to race more in sports cars, including hypercars. Max is a racer and wants to keep racing.
“We’re not announcing anything yet. Max wants to race Le Mans and compete for the win, but the F1 calendar usually makes that hard. Since he’s committed to Formula 1, there’s often a schedule clash. We’re just exploring options, and if the timing works for everyone, that would be great.
“Max is one of a kind. Not only is he incredibly fast, but the way he works with engineers and helps improve the car is impressive. Having a driver like him, even for one race, would be a big deal for us.”
Logan Sargeant, a former Williams F1 driver, is currently racing in WEC’s LMGT3 class and will move up to the Hypercar class with Ford in 2027. He says he hopes to team up with Verstappen someday.
“If Max drives, I want him in my car! He’s the best ever in my opinion, and sharing a car with him would be a huge honor and advantage. He’s the fastest driver in the world and would likely outperform everyone. I’d rather that be in my car than someone else’s!”
Sargeant added, “Max’s F1 experience means he’d adapt easily—just plug and play. There’s so much to learn from him. Winning four world championships doesn’t happen without serious speed. Even in a slower car, he finds a way to shine, and that’s rare.”
Recently, Red Bull posted a fun challenge video on YouTube where Verstappen raced against Japanese Super GT driver Atsushi Miyake over two laps. Verstappen drove a Super GT300 car, similar to the GT3 car he’ll use at Nurburgring. He hadn’t driven the car before, and changing weather at Fuji Speedway made things tricky.
Miyake set a lap time of 1:44.075, but Verstappen beat it by over 1.7 seconds with a 1:42.290 lap. It’s unclear how much the wet conditions affected each driver, but it was still an amazing lap that showed Verstappen’s skill and adaptability in different motorsports.