Max Verstappen answers Daniel Ricciardo’s Le Mans 24 Hours dream team wish

Max Verstappen has responded to Daniel Ricciardo outlining his desire to contest the Le Mans 24 Hours with his ex-Red Bull Formula 1 team-mate. 

Ricciardo, who has not raced since his F1 exit following the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, has opened the door to the prospect of teaming back up with Verstappen, who he partnered at Red Bull for two years between 2016-2018. 

Despite announcing his retirement from racing last September, the 37-year-old Australian revealed he would pick Verstappen as his dream team-mate to race with at Le Mans. 

"I don’t want to put pressure on him, but obviously Max is a name that would be high on the list,” Ricciardo told F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast as he discussed the possibility of a one-off outing at the legendary endurance race. 

Ricciardo’s suggestion was put to Verstappen ahead of the Mexico City Grand Prix and the four-time world champion joked his former team-mate is a “smart man” for picking him. 

"He's a smart man to choose me in the car,” Verstappen is quoted by Motorsport.com as telling media in Mexico City. 

"But we have to see. It just depends on a lot of things. Also for me, if I want to do it, I want to do it properly with really good prep.

”At the moment I cannot do that. I don't have the free time to dedicate to a Le Mans project with all the other things that I'm also doing outside of Formula 1.”

Verstappen confirmed the pair had already spoken about the prospect of teaming up at Le Mans one day prior to Ricciardo’s appearance on Beyond the Grid. 

"Yeah, we have spoken,” the 29-year-old Dutchman said. "But also, I think either from my side or his side, I don't think we are the types that always need to share everything. We talk about a lot of things in the background.

"I think he said it himself. He doesn't see himself coming back for a whole season but the one-offs can interest him. Why not? But again, I think if we do something like that, he will for sure agree that it needs to be proper. It needs to be for a chance to win.

"For a chance to win against people that do it a whole season, you need to be prepared really well. You just need to find the right timing.”

A potential superteam of Red Bull superstars could be formed if Sebastian Vettel were to join in. 

The four-time world champion teased the prospect of a tantalising tie-up with Verstappen at the start of this year. 

Verstappen and Fernando Alonso have also discussed the possibility of teaming up for a future Le Mans entry.