Why inexperience is a bonus for one world champion in their 24 Hours of Le Mans debut

One-time Formula E world champion and ex-Formula 1 driver Pascal Wehrlein says his lack of sportscar experience is actually proving to be a benefit in his 24 Hours of Le Mans debut.

The German driver has an extensive list of racing categories on his resume, with Wehrlein a champion in DTM, a points finisher in two seasons of F1 and the 2023 Formula E champion.

Alongside his campaign in Formula E this year with Porsche, Wehrlein is dipping his toe into sportscar racing, which began with an outing at the 24 Hours of Daytona with Porsche.

He will drive the No. 4 Porsche Penske Motorsport factory entry with Felipe Nasr and Nick Tandy at Le Mans this weekend, in what is his debut at the iconic enduro.

He raced the car last month at the 6 Hours of Spa World Endurance Championship round as part of his Le Mans preparation, but this week represents just his third event in the 963 LMDh challenger.

Talking about his Le Mans experience so far on Wednesday prior to qualifying, in which the car scraped through to Thursday’s Hyperpole, Wehrlein was asked by crash.net if there was any transferrable skills between driving in Formula E and the 963.

While he notes that they are “so different”, he says this is actually a benefit to him because he has no “wrong reference” when driving the 963.

“It is very difficult to compare,” he said.

“I feel like… obviously, I've driven many categories in my career so far. So in general I have a very good understanding of what a car needs to be quick.

“Like I've driven DTM, which is a prototype touring car. I've driven Formula 1, which has a lot of downforce. Formula E and now LMDh.

“So I would say I have quite a big toolbox of driving styles and adapting quickly to it and I know what it takes, but I feel like also the transition from Formula E to this car is so easy because actually you don't have a wrong reference.

“The cars behave so different that you don't... like I don't compare it to Formula E. I don't take anything from that car, jump into this car and think, 'yeah, but here it felt like that here it's no'.

“It's completely different cars and I would assume for example if I would put myself 10 years back and sit in a DTM car and then drive this car, there would be a lot more going on in my head like, 'yeah, but my DTM is a bit like that and now I'm in this'.

“But you know it's so different that there's nothing to compare. It makes the transition quite smooth.”

Wehrlein has a vastly experience group of team-mates around him in the Porsche garage, with his No.4 car stablemates Nasr and Tandy - who had dominated in the IMAS SportsCar Championship this season in the 963.

On the advice that he has been given, he said: “They've been so supportive, Felipe and Nick, the whole team, even Laurens [Vanthoor], Kevin [Estre] in Spa. And my other team-mates.

“I've been asking a lot of questions obviously. Just because I know there are a lot of rookie mistakes and errors you can do and I just want to jump that step and I want to be as well prepared as I can.

“A lot of it is actually procedures and rules, regulations, slow zones, all this stuff. A penalty there can be so costly.

“Timo [Bernhard] has been very supportive, giving a lot of advices on traffic management, on how to place your car, where to place it, etc.

“I think jumping into the car and being on pace and on speed, that is not the thing.

“It is more the thing about the procedures, how to be fast through the traffic and not and avoid losing a lot of time there.

“How can you save your...like if you approach a corner and you see, 'alright it's going to be tight to pass this LMP car or GT3 car'.

“Is it worth to push flat out and pass it. Or will I not make it anyway so it's better to save energy and save fuel?

“So just that different mentality of how to be the most efficient through the traffic.

“I think that's where I made the biggest step because it was something completely new to me and everyone has been supportive in terms of understanding the car, understanding the differences and everything.

“So I feel well prepared, but still when you are the first time in the car, it is always something new.”