The four-time world champion wants more racing than F1 alone can give him, and endurance is the outlet he keeps circling. His problem in 2027 is not appetite. It is the diary.
The Automobile Club de l’Ouest announced in June that the 95th 24 Hours of Le Mans will run from 9 to 13 June 2027. The Portuguese Grand Prix, confirmed in December 2025 as Zandvoort’s replacement for 2027 and 2028, is provisionally slotted into the same weekend at the Algarve International Circuit near Portimão. F1’s official 2027 calendar is not expected until this autumn.
The Alonso plan on the record
Verstappen told BBC Sport this month that talks with two-time Le Mans winner Alonso are live.
“We’ve talked about it. I mean, look at Fernando. He’s 45 and he’s still flying. Especially for Le Mans, with his experience, it could be a good option.”
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He set his own conditions in the same interview.
“It needs to fit our schedules. It needs to make sense. It needs to be on my terms. And there needs to be a real chance to go there and win it.”
Schedules are precisely where the plan collapses. Verstappen is contracted to Red Bull through 2028, and F1 does not build its calendar around a driver’s outside ambitions.
Not just Le Mans
The 2027 fixture list closes more than one door. The Austrian Grand Prix falls on the same weekend as the 24 Hours of Spa, another race Verstappen has floated. On the provisional calendar only the Nürburgring 24 Hours in May clears F1 cleanly.
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He already knows what the German race offers, and how it can end. Driving for Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing in May, Verstappen led for around 20 hours before a driveshaft failure retired the #3 car with roughly four hours to go. Overall victory went to the #80 Mercedes crew of Maro Engel, Luca Stolz, Fabian Schiller and Maxime Martin.
Ford has already made its 2027 call
The one factory door that might have opened in 2027 has already closed. Ford, entering the WEC Hypercar class next season, confirmed Logan Sargeant in January alongside Mike Rockenfeller and Sebastian Priaulx for its debut year.
Ford global racing director Mark Rushbrook has been direct about Verstappen’s timing.
“Not for 2027. Depending on the schedules and what’s going on, it could be during [his F1 career],” he told Sportscar365 in May.
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That leaves 2028 as the earliest realistic Le Mans window, and only if that year’s F1 calendar lands differently and Verstappen’s Red Bull contract situation permits it.
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