Vanwall, the great absentee from the Hypercar grid in 2024
When announcing the participating teams for the Hypercar World Championship, Vanwall was absent. The championship officials did not select the manufacturer's application, without providing specific reasons.
During the 2023 season, the Vanwall was far from successful. When it wasn’t plagued by reliability issues, it found itself at the back of the Hypercar pack or in the middle of the LMP2 field. Despite the team submitting an application for the upcoming season, the WEC officials did not select them.
An assumed choice, but one that was very difficult to make according to them. However, if they own this decision, no comments have been made and no justification has been given. I would prefer to have everyone on the grid, but we have a limited number of cars [37] that we can accept, so we have to make certain decisions. I think we have made good and logical decisions, even if they were not easy. I will not comment too much on these decisions: we have to make our decision based on different criteria, which are clearly stated in the sporting regulations, and for Vanwall Racing, some of them were not OK, says Frédéric Lequien, the CEO of the championship.
Same story from the team’s side, no comments were made. But one of the following points clearly wasn’t respected by Vanwall: the competitor’s track record, their interest in the championship, their regular participation, and their financial situation. Indeed, to participate in the Hypercar championship, one must be a serious contender and produce production cars. Vandervell’s models are not yet on the market.
