After another eye-catching endurance racingperformance, Max Verstappen fans are already calling for the four-time F1 champion to take the next step towards the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Verstappen had the Nurburgring 24 Hours in his hands with three hours left on the clock. Then a driveshaft failed.

The No. 3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 he shared with Daniel Juncadella, Jules Gounon, and Lucas Auer had led the race for much of the day and night – -Verstappen himself had seized the lead during an exceptional night stint, immediately entering a battle with the sister No. 80 Mercedes on taking over from Juncadella, and overtaking Maro Engel for the position.

It was the kind of performance that made the Nordschleife’s cruelest trick hurt even more.

The reaction from fans on social media was crazy, as you’d expect. Commiseration was expected. What followed it teases something amazing: “Le Mans 24H —->” Other replies echoed that. “Be proud of yourselves, lads,” wrote one supporter. “A phenomenal 21 hours from you all before the driveshaft going. Heads high, onwards and upwards from here.” Another called it outright: “win was easily there .” And from a fan who clearly hasn’t missed a race in years: “I’ve supported Max for 10 years and I’ll keep supporting him. He’s the best in the world and he proved it once again.”

Le Mans Already Has Verstappen’s Name on It

The fan reaction isn’t chasing the wind.

Ford has confirmed talks with Verstappen about a potential future appearance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with those conversations stretching back more than three years.

The manufacturer is also planning to enter the hypercar class of the World Endurance Championship in 2027, and given that Ford will enter the WEC’s top class and compete at Le Mans from 2027, and is already a technical partner with Red Bull on the F1 power unit, the route to a Verstappen Le Mans drive could be possible.

Ford Racing’s global director of racing Mark Rushbrook confirmed enough about the ambition when asked.

“I would love to see that, yes,” he told reporters. “But a lot of things need to align for that to happen. Of course, that would be incredible for us, for the sport.”

Rushbrook ruled out 2027 for Verstappen’s potential Le Mans debut but suggested it could happen while he remains active in F1, “depending on the schedules and what’s going on.”

The schedule is the perennial obstacle. Verstappen cannot race at Le Mans in 2026 owing to a direct clash with the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, although the two events rarely conflict – it last happened in 2016.

He is officially under contract with Red Bull until the end of 2028, and has warned earlier this season that he could walk away from F1 over his unhappiness with the 2026 regulations. A Le Mans window could open sooner than most expect.

Verstappen has regularly voiced his desire to compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans over recent years.

“All the big endurance races I want to do, it’s something that when I was a kid, my dad was doing them,” he said in March. The Nürburgring has been his proving ground for that ambition, he made six outings at the Nordschleife in the last 12 months to prepare for this race alone.

The result this weekend was a DNF, but the driving was unimpeachable.

If he eventually competes at Le Mans, Verstappen would follow in the footsteps of F1 drivers who have won the race, including Nico Hulkenberg, who found victory in 2015 with Porsche, and Fernando Alonso, who claimed back-to-back victories in 2018 and 2019 with Toyota.

The Nurburgring result stings now. By the time Le Mans comes around, it might look like essential preparation.