Wehrlein getting up to speed quickly with Porsche Penske at Le Mans

2024 Formula E world champion Pascal Wehrlein is in at the deep end this week at Le Mans, placed in the No. 4 Penske Porsche Motorsport 963 alongside reigning Rolex 24 At Daytona 24 and Sebring 12 Hours winners Nick Tandy and Felipe Nasr for his debut at La Sarthe.

It’s a huge week for Porsche and its Penske project. Laurens Vanthoor described this race as “the only thing missing” for PPM last week, after winning titles and major races in IMSA, plus the drivers’ world championship in the WEC last year. And he’s right. Porsche’s gunning for a 20th overall win, Roger Penske is still searching for his first. A victory on Sunday for one of the team's three challengers would be truly historic.

And what a story it would be for the No. 4 to take the victory, with Le Mans rookie Wehrlein helping steer Nasr and Tandy to a "Grand Slam" of major endurance wins in a single year.

Going into race week, the 30-year-old German feels confident he's already up to speed with the intricacies of the 963 LMDh-spec prototype, after appearances at the Rolex 24 and 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps earlier this year.

“I didn’t drive much in the Test Day on Sunday, which was a shame,” he told RACER. "In my first stint, there was a safety car procedure, and in my second, there were red flags.

“But, I think in terms of driving, I have a very good idea about the car. In Daytona, I drove with JDC, and Spa was my first race for the (Penske) team. It was great to see how they operate. I got some seat time, which it great and was important to prepare me for this one.

“It reminds me a lot of a DTM car, which I drove 10 years ago. In terms of how the car feels, how it reacts to downforce, it’s a prototype, a sports car, but it’s a bit of a touring car. It’s very similar to that. That’s the closest reference I had to the LMDh car. In terms of Formula E, Formula 1, there’s very little you can compare it with.

“The biggest transition is traffic, how to judge it like with the different categories, which places to overtake, where you can send it and where you can’t. GT3 cars seem so strong on the brakes, it’s so hard to get past sometimes without losing a lot of lap time. That’s where Daytona was super helpful, and traffic is the area I have made the biggest progress in since that race.”

“At this point, I’ve driven so many categories that I can adapt my driving style well.”

Right now, he’s taking things day by day. There’s plenty of pomp and circumstance surrounding Porsche’s effort, there always is at the great French race. Thus, he’s trying to zone in on the here and now and work together with his teammates and avoid the many distractions that can come flying at you during this 10-day mega event.

“We are trying very hard to make it (the special Triple Crown) happen,” he added. “Felipe and Nick have been very supportive in terms of talking about the car, what it needs and where you need to pay attention for procedures.

“We’ve had so many chats about everything that it feels like I’ve done this event before. That’s one thing I really like about endurance racing, that your teammates are so open and supportive, which is new to me.

“I expect this to be the biggest race in terms of the number of fans I’ve ever experienced. But I never question or imagine what would happen if something like this went really well. I just try to make the most out of the moment and don’t think of the consequences.”