Vanwall drops F1 champion Villeneuve for Le Mans
Vanwall has replaced 1997 Formula 1 champion Jacques Villeneuve with IMSA SportsCar Championship race winner Tristan Vautier for its return to the Le Mans 24 Hours next month.
Photo by: Eric Le Galliot
Villeneuve was set to make his Le Mans return in June, but the Canadian has now been benched for the WEC’s blue riband event.
It is unclear if the 52-year-old winner of 11 grands prix will return for the remaining three rounds of the season at Monza, Fuji and Bahrain.
Villeneuve made a highly-anticipated debut in the World Endurance Championship this year with the Vanwall Hypercar squad, joining Tom Dillmann and Esteban Guerreri in its Vandervell 680 non-hybrid LMH car.
However, he struggled for competitiveness in the opening leg of the season, with a crash in the Sebring Prologue and another race-ending incident with Francesco Castellacci's Ferrari GTE car at Spa compounding his misery.
He was also involved in another shunt at Portimao in April, although that followed a brake failure in his Vanwall that left him unable to stop the car in time to avoid hitting the barriers.
The decision means that Villeneuve will not have the chance to complete the Triple Crown which consists of the Indianapolis 500, Le Mans 24 Hours and either the Monaco Grand Prix or the F1 world title, depending on personal views.
Villeneuve won the Indy 500 in 1995 before moving to F1 where he secured the championship title at the second attempt with Williams. He continued in grand prix racing until 2006, making 163 starts in total.
#4 Floyd Vanwall Racing Team Vanwall Vandervell 680: Jacques Villeneuve
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
He previously made two appearances at Le Mans with the factory Peugeot team in 2007-08, finishing second in 2008 in the Peugeot 908 LMP1 he shared with Marc Gene and Nicolas Minassian.
Vautier, the 2021 Sebring 12 Hours winner with JDC-Miller Motorsports, has been racing for LMP2 squad Algarve Pro Racing in the European Le Mans Series this season.
The Frenchman raced in IMSA for JDC-Miller from 2018 until the conclusion of its relationship with Cadillac at the end of last season, and was not renewed for the team's switch to a customer Porsche 963 that made its debut in the most recent round at Laguna Seca.
The squad that previously operated under the ByKolles name is making its first visit to Le Mans since 2020, having been absent from the first two seasons of the Hypercar regulations that replaced LMP1.
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Quartararo: Marquez's Honda MotoGP exit "woke a lot of people up" at Yamaha
Vinales: Aprilia MotoGP win has a “different value” to Suzuki, Yamaha triumphs
The experiment WEC could revisit to magnify its boom period
What could have been: When Villeneuve’s shock return thwarted an F1 rookie
Villeneuve: Verstappen wants Hamilton as next Red Bull F1 team-mate
The F1 rebel who defied Schumacher and won Williams’ last title
Vanwall working on 2025 WEC comeback with heavily-revised Hypercar
"Hard decision" for WEC to turn down Vanwall's 2024 entry
Briscoe convinced privateers like Vanwall can still succeed in WEC
WRC Croatia: Neuville edges clear of Evans, Ogier in pursuit
Aston Martin protests F1 Chinese GP qualifying results after Sainz red flag crash
Ferrari F1 drivers split over China sprint race clash talks
Hamilton blames wind for Q1 error as Mercedes "experiment"
Ranking Derek Warwick’s top 10 greatest races
The Le Mans oddities that have added to the race's legend
The Peugeot rookies who conquered Le Mans but missed out on F1
Why the stars have aligned to bring Aston Martin back to the top class at Le Mans
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments