Could F1 Experience Fuel Lone Star Le Mans Success?

More than 10 drivers bringing F1 experience back to Texas

30 August Austin, TX- The World Endurance Championship returns to Texas this weekend for the Lone Star Le Mans, featuring a 36-car field for the six hour enduro on Sunday. The global championship has attracted not only some of the biggest brands in motorsport including Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin, Corvette and Lamborghini, but it has also brought an incredibly talented field of over 100 drivers.

The racers have all built their careers on the strength of wins and championships around the globe to be able to race at this level. And among those top tier drivers, a full 12 of them will arrive in Austin with the previous experience of driving a F1 machine there, with 11 of them having competed in F1 at the track.

2009 F1 World Champion and 15-time F1 race winner Jenson Button will be competing at the track once again, this time on board the No. 38 Hertz Team Jota along with Philip Hanson and Oliver Rasmussen. Having raced at the 3.4-mile circuit for McLaren four times, Button also made his NASCAR debut at the track in 2023.

Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Kamui Kobayashi and Brandon Hartley, as well as Hertz Team Jota’s Will Stevens and Peugeot Total Energies’ Jean Eric Vergne are all former F1 racers at COTA. And the list goes on, as former Force India pilot Paul Di Resta (No. 94 Peugeot Total Energies) returns to COTA, this time with co-drivers Loïc Duval and Stoffel Vandoorne, who also raced F1 at the circuit in 2017 and 2018.

Daniil Kvyat had multiple F1 starts at COTA, and returns with the No. 63 Lamborghini Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63 entry this weekend having also raced at COTA in his first foray in NASCAR last year.

Yet another F1 pilot set for the Texas enduro is Robert Kubica, who will race the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P this weekend along with Robert Shwartzman and Yifei Ye.  Team WRT’s Sean Gelael has also taken to the track in F1 machinery, having driven a Toro Rosso in a wet test session earlier in his career.

With the Lone Star Le Mans marking the first time for WEC to race at the circuit in over four years, could that F1 experience turn into an advantage for these seven pilots?

For Gelael, who will co-drive the No. 31 Team WRT BMW M4 with Darren Leung and Augusto Farfus in the Lone Star Le Mans, he is certainly counting on his previous experience to add to his confidence heading into the weekend.

“Oh I love Austin. My first experience there was with the Toro Rosso F1 car,” said Gelael. “It was raining so I never really drove there in the dry. I’m looking forward to drive there with the M4 GT3. I think it should be a track that we excel in and I hope that we will have good lasting memories of Austin, Texas. The track and the atmosphere is mega and the city is so vibrant. I can’t wait!”

Having raced at the circuit with Sauber, Giovinazzi concurs that even with a very different car, arriving at the track with some experience there is helpful as he looks forward to the weekend on board the No. 51 Ferrari 499P along with co-drivers Pier Guidi and James Calado.

“Of course when you know the track it is always easier, and especially because during the race weekend we only get so many laps before the race, so to know the track is always an advantage,” said Giovinazzi.

When asked about the favorite sections, both Giovinazzi and Gelael have the same response.

“For sure, the best section was the first sector-I’ll call it the snake!” said Giovinazzi. “It is very fast and really tricky because if you make a mistake in any of the corners, it compromises the whole section so it is really difficult. But it is really nice to drive especially in a car with lots of downforce like the 499P.”

Having been some years between visits, Gelael has no lack of certainty of what he is looking forward to most this weekend when he gets the chance to take to the track once again.

“I’m looking forward to Sector 1! I think it’s the highlight of the circuit. It’s fast, flowing and you can use a lot of curbs with the M4. I think it will be very cool to drive the M4 on this track.”

It isn’t just the track layout that has these former F1 racers looking forward to the weekend, as the event is a very special edition of the 2024 WEC calendar.

“Driving in the US is always special, especially driving in Texas,” said Giovinazzi. “I remember that there were a lot of fans, and I’m sure with this new WEC how it is growing up, it should be for sure many people there. So we want to do well and we want to enjoy the race in front of a lot of fans.”

“Honestly, I love going to the US. It’s far from home so I don’t go a lot but it’s so nice,” said Gelael. “Austin is a super cool place. The culture, the food and the people are amazing. When I used to go to F1 (it was in October), I would always watch my favorite team’s basketball game (San Antonio Spurs). I know there is no game when we go but hopefully, I get an invite to the facilities!”