Why the F1 stars are invading Le Mans

Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button are getting all the headlines, but the former McLaren team-mates aren't the only ex-Formula 1 drivers making their Le Mans 24 Hours debuts this year.

Grand prix winners Juan Pablo Montoya and Pastor Maldonado, plus former F1 midfield stars Paul di Resta and Felipe Nasr are also going to be on the grid for the World Endurance Championship showpiece for the first time.

All six ex-F1 Le Mans newcomers told us what attracted them to the race and how their deals came about.

FERNANDO ALONSO
#8 Toyota TS050 HYBRID
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There may only have been one Spanish outright winner in the history of the Le Mans 24 Hours, but Fernando Alonso knows all about the big race. He couldn't help but, because one of his oldest friends in motorsport, Antonio Garcia, has been a regular at the French enduro since 2006.

"We've known each other for maybe 28 or 30 years," explains two-time Formula 1 world champion Alonso of the Corvette Racing man, who will be making his 12th start at the 24 Hours this year. "I follow him every time and we talk a lot."

"Ferrari was not very keen on sharing me with another brand" Fernando Alonso

Alonso admits that he started thinking about racing at Le Mans some time ago, long before the idea of trying to emulate Graham Hill by winning the French enduro, the Monaco Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500 entered his head.

He says "Le Mans came first", and then thoughts of the triple crown began to grow.

"From about 2013, it was an idea I had in my head and I was close on a couple of occasions when I was at Ferrari," Alonso explains, "but Ferrari was not very keen on sharing me with another brand. Then in 2014 I was waving the flag and in 2015 I was 99.9% certain to drive."

Those are references to his invite to be honorary starter and how close he was to a seat in Porsche's third 919 Hybrid. That spot eventually went to Nico Hulkenberg, who claimed victory with Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber, after contractual wrangles prevented Alonso from taking up the offer.

Alonso is now realising his dream, but he won't be driving for Toyota just at Le Mans. He is contesting the full eight-race World Endurance Championship superseason that encompasses both the 2018 and '19 editions of Le Mans.

"The original idea was just to do Le Mans," Alonso says of his initial conversations with Toyota. "But if you do Le Mans, Spa is sort of mandatory [as a warm-up]. And then with the changes to the calendar with the superseason, it was only three more races this year.

"A full season became more attractive to me and to the team because they wanted continuity of the driver line-up. It worked for both sides."

It also gives Alonso two chances to win Le Mans in his bid for the unofficial triple crown of motorsport. That, he insists, wasn't a motivating factor. Yes, he wants to win Le Mans, but he also wants "to try to be world champion".

JENSON BUTTON
#11 SMP Racing BRE-AER BR1
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Jenson Button admits that he's always had a latent desire to compete in the Le Mans 24 Hours, an event he describes as "one of the biggest races in the world".

But it wasn't on his radar at the end of last year as he worked out where he wanted to race after a sabbatical following his retirement from F1.

The 2009 F1 world champion opted to maintain his links with Honda and race in the Super GT series, though there were discussions about joining the Japanese manufacturer's Acura brand for its IMSA SportsCar Championship assault with Penske Racing. As for Le Mans, he says, "I really didn't think there was an opportunity for me".

"Rossiter told me that he'd seen the BR1 testing and said, 'You've got to get yourself in it'. I thought, 'Oh, hello'" Jenson Button

That changed with a phone call from James Rossiter. An old friend from BAR days, when he was part of the F1 team's roster of test drivers, Rossiter had been running with the ByKolles privateer LMP1 team and had seen SMP Racing's new BR Engineering BR1 chassis on track.

"He told me that he'd seen the car testing at Aragon and Portimao and said, 'You've got to get yourself in it'," recalls Button. "He reckoned that it was working really well out on circuit and he thought they had a seat for me.

"I thought, 'Oh, hello.' I got my manager to call them and we came to an agreement pretty quickly that I'd do Le Mans and the WEC superseason."

Button explains that the chance was too good to turn down - he didn't want to wait to fulfil his ambition to race at Le Mans: "The superseason includes two Le Mans races, so if I didn't jump in now, I was really looking at 2020 before I could get there. And I'll be 40 by then."

He insists he isn't looking at his drive in the AER-engined BR1 as a lead-in to a possible deal with a manufacturer in the future.

"At this stage of my career, I'm only thinking about the now," he says.

"This year is a fantastic opportunity for the privateers and I'm committed to going to Le Mans to challenge for victory and hopefully stand on the podium."

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA
#32 United Autosports Ligier-Gibson JSP217
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Juan Pablo Montoya is his usual insouciant self when talking about his Le Mans debut with the United Autosports team. He may be a full-time sportscar racer now in the IMSA ranks with the Penske Acura team, but he didn't set out to contest the WEC's showpiece race this year.

The link with the Anglo-American team is obvious. He knows its co-owner, McLaren F1 boss Zak Brown, who made the approach when United needed a high-profile driver to satisfy some sponsors who had been on its Ligiers when Alonso had joined the team at the Daytona 24 Hours IMSA opener in January.

"Zak asked me if I was interested. I said that he didn't really need to ask" Juan Pablo Montoya

"I've known Zak for years and he asked me if I was interested," explains the former Williams and McLaren F1 driver. "I said that he didn't really need to ask, and one thing led to the other. It's something I haven't done before, so it's a good opportunity."

Montoya, who tested a Porsche LMP1 back in 2015 in what was essentially a PR opportunity, is already an experienced sportscar driver with three overall wins at Daytona with Chip Ganassi Racing, starting with a victory on his debut in 2007.

But again, he didn't set out to race in the Florida enduro with the team with which he was then racing in NASCAR's premier division.

"Honestly, being at Ganassi, you'd get an email saying we need you on the track on this day," explains Montoya. "I don't think the conversation was ever, 'Hey, do you want to run Daytona with us?' It was, 'We'll see you there.' But it was always fun and a good race to win."

Montoya reckons he isn't motivated by the unofficial triple crown of motorsport, although with wins already at the Indy 500 and the Monaco Grand Prix he's one step closer to emulating Hill's unique record than Alonso.

"I want to win it, but not because it's part of the triple crown," he says. "I just want to win it."

FELIPE NASR
#47 Villorba Corse Dallara-Gibson P217
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Former Sauber driver Felipe Nasr got to sample arguably the second biggest 24-hour sportscar race in the world as a 19-year-old.

He raced at the Daytona 24 Hours in 2012 after claiming the Sunoco Challenge prize drive during his successful assault on the British F3 Championship in '11. It sowed the seed in his mind of maybe one day racing at Le Mans.

"I did Daytona on my way to F1 and always had it in the back of my mind that I'd like to go to Le Mans at some point," says Nasr, who has just started his first full season of sportscar racing in IMSA with the Action Express Racing team.

"Maybe it came a little forward in my mind when I signed to do the full IMSA season this year.

"Getting the call from Villorba Corse to do Le Mans and the rest of the European Le Mans season was a nice surprise. It's a great opportunity for me in my first full year of sportscar racing."

Nasr sees his future in the WEC.

"This will be good for my CV by giving me the opportunity to get Le Mans under my belt and learn the track," he says.

"If more manufacturers join in the future, they'll want drivers with Le Mans experience."

PASTOR MALDONADO
#31 DragonSpeed ORECA-Gibson 07
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Pastor Maldonado makes no bones about the fact that he's starting a new chapter of his career in the wake of a couple of seasons on the sidelines following his final year in F1 with Lotus in 2015.

It was time, he says, to get back in the saddle after deciding to back off and spend more time with his family.

"Every driver wants to do Le Mans at least once, and I'm definitely going to do it at least twice!" Pastor Maldonado

The winner of the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix with Williams had become a father for the second time, but by the end of last year was "looking around for other experiences and thinking about coming back to racing".

An approach from DragonSpeed boss Elton Julian through a mutual friend has resulted in a full superseason campaign in the LMP2 ranks.

He says it's "a good place to start and gain experience" as he kicks off his career in sportscar racing. But he'll also be ticking a box by racing at Le Mans.

"It's an event I've always watched on TV, because it's quite a big deal in Venezuela and I think the country is getting behind me for this one," he says.

"Every driver wants to do it at least once, and I'm definitely going to do it at least twice!"

PAUL DI RESTA
#22 United Autosports Ligier-Gibson JSP217
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Mercedes DTM driver Paul di Resta has always wanted to do Le Mans. It's just that an opportunity had never presented itself before, nor was he in a position to pursue one.

"I was so focused on what I was doing in F1 that Le Mans never really came into the equation," says the Scot, who spent three seasons as a full-time grand prix racer with Force India in 2011-13.

"And when you are working with one manufacturer in a particular series it limits opportunities with other manufacturers."

The chance to finally race at Le Mans came via United co-owner Zak Brown. A deal to race at Daytona in January was extended to include the Sebring and Watkins Glen enduros in March and June respectively, and again to encompass a Le Mans drive alongside Filipe Albuquerque and Phil Hanson.

"Zak asked me if I fancied doing Daytona, and I said that I did," says di Resta. "The relationship has gone from strength to strength. Having done two races already means I feel as prepared as I can be for Le Mans."

Di Resta is also looking to the future, as his employer's time in DTM is ending.

"You never know what will happen with me and Mercedes," he says. "My future is up for discussion."