Daniel Ricciardo has revealed he had an opportunity to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Porsche in 2015.
The Australian admitted discussions were held with a view to him joining the German marque for the flagship event but his participation was ultimately scuppered when he failed to get permission from Red Bull.
The revelation comes ahead of Ricciardo’s move to McLaren for 2021, where he will work alongside Andreas Seidl, the man who headed Porsche’s LMP1 programme in the World Endurance Championship.
“Andreas is a guy that I do really look forward to working with,” Ricciardo said.
“I was first in contact with him I think back in 2014. There was a bit of a push to try and do Le Mans at the time with Porsche and there was a little bit of small talks.
“I’ve heard people who have worked with him speak very highly and I’m looking forward to that.
“I’ll keep being a sponge and trying to make myself better.”
The 2015 edition of the French endurance classis was won by Porsche, with Earl Bamber, Nick Tandy, and Nico Hulkenberg heading a one-two for the Weissach team.
“Yeah, we had some conversations back in the day,” Seidl admitted when quizzed about discussions with Ricciardo.
“Unfortunately he didn’t get the permission at that time to join the project.
“I think that would have been an interesting experience for us but also for him. The car he was supposed to drive actually won Le Mans.
“Daniel was always a driver I was following throughout his entire F1 career,” he added.
“I always liked his performance on-track, but also the way how he comes across as a person outside of the car with his positivity, which is something very important for me also to have within the team.
“I’m simply happy that it finally worked out for next year, and I’m looking forward once he’s joined us in January.”
