No Le Mans clash under Chase Carey's watch

Jun.19 - F1 and Le Mans appear to be entering a new era of collaboration.

At the weekend, new formula one CEO Chase Carey was the honorary official starter of the fabled 24 hour race at Le Mans.

But just a year ago, the now ousted F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone was accused of having deliberately engineered a date clash between Le Mans and the F1 race in Baku.

"We are demonstrating the new relationship between the (Le Mans organiser) ACO (Automobile Club de l'Ouest) and formula one," said ACO chief Pierre Fillon.

"With Chase Carey at the top of F1, the time has come to work together on a motor sport calendar that allows fans to enjoy both formula one and the races of the world endurance championship," he added.

F1 driver Nico Hulkenberg won Le Mans in 2015, but was unable to follow up his triumph a year later due to the Baku clash.

And now, the German is a works Renault driver.

"At the moment, I don't think I am missing participating in Le Mans," he told Firstpost. "I am focused on the Renault project and I would like to give this my best shot in the next few years.

"For the future, who knows?"

✅ Check out more posts with related topics: