Wolff joins Verstappen in rejecting Le Mans rules

Toto Wolff has added his voice to Max Verstappen’s growing list of concerns about the regulations in top-level endurance racing.

Verstappen, a four-time world champion, has been increasingly vocal about his interest in GT and prototype racing - including a potential future at Le Mans or the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring.

Red Bull’s Helmut Marko, speaking to Kleine Zeitung, made clear that Verstappen won’t be staying in Formula 1 into his 40s like Fernando Alonso.

"If he quits Formula 1, he'll probably be interested in Le Mans," Marko said. "And the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring, which appeals to him even more.

"But that's a farce, as he's not allowed to race a top-of-the-line car right now. It's just the German regulations, that don't care that he's a four-time world champion or that he smashed the lap record after just three laps in his first test.

"They won't make an exception for him. He has to do two tests or two races. But he'll do that." Verstappen himself has made it clear that if he does pursue endurance racing, it has to be at the top level - in the hypercar category.

But he's not impressed with how the World Endurance Championship (WEC) handles parity between manufacturers.

"At the moment, I think it's too early for me to enter because of the new regulations," Verstappen said recently. "I think they need to sort out the BOP a little bit better. It's a bit hit and miss at the moment, I find."

He also raised the issue of driver weight - noting that at 80kg in full race kit, he’s disadvantaged.

"I feel like there needs to be a limit on that," he said. "Because that's a couple of tenths a lap."

Currently, manufacturers like Ferrari and Alpine are active in WEC’s top class, with McLaren planning to join in 2027.

Mercedes, however, has shown no interest and now team boss Toto Wolff has revealed why.

"You spend so much time and money and effort in developing the quickest car and then you're putting 10 kilograms of ballast into it," Wolff told Bloomberg. "I just want to build the quickest car," he said, suggesting that Le Mans could consider a Formula 1-style budget cap as an alternative to BOP.

"There's still regulations, but (in F1) nobody needs to bluff in pre-season or in qualifying. It's war, it's gloves off, pure racing. "If that was to happen, Le Mans absolutely would be something that we would be looking at.

But at the moment, with BOP, having some official judge whether you're too quick, putting 10kg in your car, taking it out from someone else, it's not for us at the moment.

"For me, today we are concentrating on the main platform and that is Formula 1. It captures 99 percent of the audience and everything else comes second."