Vettel to test Porsche car for Le Mans program

STUTTGART, Germany (AP) — Four-time Formula 1 champion Sebastian Vettel is getting back behind the wheel.

Vettel is joining Porsche as a test driver on its Le Mans program and says "we will then see what happens next."

The German will drive the Porsche 963 car for works team Porsche Penske Motorsport as part of a 36-hour test session at the Motorland Aragon circuit in Spain next week, the German manufacturer said Friday. Porsche added that Vettel already drove the car in a brief "rollout" session Thursday at Porsche's private test track in Weissach, Germany.

"This will be a new experience for me," Vettel said in a statement. "We will then see what happens next in this respect – at the moment there are no further plans for the future."

Vettel retired from F1 after spending the 2022 season with Aston Martin, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family and that he was growing uneasy about F1's impact on the environment. Cars in the annual Le Mans 24-hour race have run on biofuel made from wine-industry waste since 2022.

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AP Formula 1: https://apnews.com/hub/formula-one