JUNE 17, 2019

Red Bull quiet on 2021 involvement at Le Mans

It is "too soon" to say what involvement Red Bull will have at the top level of the world endurance championship in the future

It is "too soon" to say what involvement Red Bull will have at the top level of the world endurance championship in the future.

New rules for the series including Le Mans have been announced for 2021, in which production 'hypercars' will replace LMP1 as the top class for the future.

Aston Martin, already a Red Bull partner, has counted itself in.

The British manufacturer's car will be the Valkyrie, which was designed by Red Bull designer Adrian Newey.

But as for Red Bull's involvement in Aston Martin's Le Mans effort, Dr Helmut Marko is quiet.

"It's too early for that," he told Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper when asked for comment.

At any rate, Fernando Alonso - who won Le Mans for a second time with Toyota at the weekend - signalled his approval of the 2021 rules.

He will not compete in 2020.

"I like the new regulations and the idea with hypercars," he is quoted by AS newspaper.

"Aston Martin has confirmed its participation and Toyota is staying. Hopefully other companies will announce the same in the coming weeks.

"I have already said that my departure from WEC is not final, and that I will be back. However, I don't know if that will be in two, three or five years," said Alonso.

Alonso could return to Le Mans with McLaren, even though Zak Brown admits the recent experience for the brand with Alonso at the Indy 500 was "terrible".

"We need to analyse if we have a good product for it, if it does not affect us in Formula 1, and if it's a good business model for the company," Brown told Auto Motor und Sport.

"I am optimistic that the answer to these questions is yes. The same goes for Indycar, even though we've just had a terrible experience at Indy."