Pascal Wehrlein: Racing at Le Mans “has always been on my mind”

Reigning Formula E champion Pascal Wehrlein has revealed that he always had a desire to race at the Le Mans 24 Hours despite having primarily built his career in single-seater racing.

Wehrlein will make his debut in the French endurance classic next week, sharing the factory #4 Porsche Penske 963 with Nick Tandy and Felipe Nasr.

Wehrlein edged out fellow Formula E driver Nico Mueller for the final seat in Porsche’s expanded Le Mans line-up after making his prototype debut at the Daytona 24 Hours in January.

The opportunity arose after Porsche streamlined its LMDh roster for the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar Championship from 10 drivers to eight, leaving it one short for its three-car attack at Le Mans.

Wehrlein first tested the 963 LMDh in 2022 during its development phase, but continued to focus on Formula E, where he won the title last season with Porsche.

While the all-electric championship remains his number one priority this year, Wehrlein will tick off a major bucket list item on 14-15 June in France.

“It has always been a wish for me…already before I joined Porsche to also try endurance racing,” the 30-year-old told Crash.net.

“The last couple of years the mentality was always to focus purely on one programme.

“With different circumstances now adding a third car at Le Mans, only having eight works drivers for that programme, naturally you are missing one driver. 

“It was just a natural opportunity coming our way which I'm very happy about. It has always been on my mind to do that one day.

“Obviously, the last couple of years I knew that I still have a bit of time in my career to do that. Probably it came earlier than I thought but later than I wished. So it's good.”

Wehrlein was also inducted into Porsche’s factory line-up at the Spa WEC round, which acts as a dress rehearsal for Le Mans.

He also completed several tests between his only two race appearances with the 963 in Daytona and Spa-Francorchamps.

Wehrlein is aware of the scale challenge that awaits him at Le Mans, but the ex-Formula 1 driver and DTM champion is keen on showing his skills in a 24-hour race.

“I’m very excited,” he said. “It has always been a dream and especially for the last couple of years to be able to race at Le Mans.

“So I’m very looking forward to do that challenge and to that race. I am just in a very fortunate situation. 

“My main programme is Formula E and my full concentration is obviously there. On the other side I’m just getting into endurance racing and have my chance there to hopefully show what I'm capable of in endurance racing and hopefully have a good race at Le Mans.”