Christensen's future with Porsche Hypercar program still in flux

Danish driver Michael Christensen is "currently engaged in constructive discussions" to remain a Porsche factory driver in 2026, the German brand has revealed to RACER.

Christensen, who was a full-time Hypercar driver for Porsche through the 2023 and '24 seasons, has been absent from the Porsche Penske Motorsport line-up since the 100th WEC race at Fuji in September.

In Japan, the No. 5 963 was driven by just Julien Andlauer and Mathieu Jaminet while Christensen took part in IMSA testing, and for the finale in Bahrain, 2024 IMSA GTD PRO champion Laurin Heinrich is set to take his place alongside the two Frenchmen for his Hypercar race debut.

The decision from Porsche to leave Christensen out of the final stages of the season has led to speculation that we'd seen the last of him in a 963 and/or Porsche overalls. But a statement provided to RACER today offers positive news about the GTE Pro Le Mans and title-winning Dane.

"Together with all the other drivers involved, Michael has used all his experience to push the LMDh program forward. And Porsche has repeatedly adapted the driver line-up to current circumstances," the Porsche spokesperson said.

"This applies to both the pairings and the general line-up. We have done the same here in order to explore all possibilities for the future of the program. We are very confident that we will be able to continue our successful collaboration with Michael and are currently engaged in constructive discussions."

This statement follows news earlier today that Jaminet is set to leave the Porsche roster at the end of the year, in the wake of the decision from the OEM to scale back its factory LMDh program to IMSA GTP-only in 2026.