WEC CEO Frédéric Lequien On Calendar Clashes, New Circuits, LMP2’s Future & LMGT3

During the FIA WEC meeting at Portimao earlier this month the championship’s CEO Frédéric Lequien held a media round table discussion during the race and gave updates on a variety of burning topics.

This included the championship’s improved media attention, the future of LMP2, the philosophy behind the forthcoming LMGT3 class and the calendar.

Here’s a Q&A covering all the major talking points from the briefing ahead of the third race of the FIA WEC season at Spa:

Tell us your thoughts on the championship. How is it going?

“It’s going very well. It’s the start of a new era. In terms of media coverage, we can feel something different. Not just in motorsport media, but much more in general, lifestyle. That’s quite interesting.

“We are doing the maximum we can, but we cannot do everything. One big part of the job is to be done by the teams on track. But I used to say to my team that we have to keep a cool head. We will welcome three manufacturers, it’s very big now.

“We are not Formula One, we try to get more and more exposure, we are not too bad in terms of communications, we are doing better and better in terms of promotions. Sales for Spa tickets are up 200 per cent on last year.

“It’s not only us, it’s also the OEMs. When you have Ferrari in the game it delivers. The figures we have for Monza are crazy.

“Maybe it’s naive but we have to enjoy this. Sometimes people try to always find the negatives. We are in 2023, and never have we had so many manufacturers in a World Championship.”

Do you feel like you are in a stronger position than something like Formula E or other championships because you have so many manufacturers?

“I would never put any kind of teams or drivers to say they have to choose. One day we will have a situation where we can’t avoid clashes. It might happen.

“We do not want to organise 12 or 13 races. We will have one more next season. Trying to organise eight rounds without any clashes with IMSA or Formula E, ELMS…”

We do not want to organise 12 or 13 races

Formula E is putting more races on its calendar, which makes it more difficult for you. Or have you reached a position where they have to work around you?

“We are due to have a meeting with the to talk about the next calendar and be smart. They are very smart people. Sometimes for different reasons, contracts, sponsors, and money, you cannot change.

“You have a lot of complaints from the paddock but come on. Everyone has to elevate a little bit. But don’t get me wrong, we pay a lot of attention to clashes. Avoiding them is the main goal.”

What is the relationship like with IMSA? There has been criticism of clashes like with Long Beach.

“It’s difficult to answer. We have to protect the IMSA calendar and the WEC of course and put the maximum we can to avoid clashes with Formula E. But with more rounds, it will be more difficult.”

Can you shed some light on the calendar? There have been rumours…

“It’s really only rumoured right now. Right now we are discussing with some different countries, and different tracks all over the world. We will release the calendar at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.”

We will release the calendar at the 24 Hours of Le Mans

So nothing is signed? Obviously, there’s an ongoing agreement with some races, but there are two slots I guess to fill. The American slot, and the Portimao replacement? Are you saying you haven’t signed those deals yet?

“Why a Portimao replacement?”

There’s a rumour we won’t be coming back here…

“We will go to Bahrain, we will go to Le Mans. It will be a very nice calendar.”

Presumably, we won’t be coming back to Sebring. When will Qatar be?

“We will open the season in early March. This is official. Not the date, we have to fix that and are discussing with them, but we will open the season in Qatar.”

And that means no Sebring?

“We will see.”

Is eight races the sweet spot or are you aiming for more going forward?

“We need to pay attention to the team budget. Every month we receive some notes from different countries and circuits that want to welcome the WEC. And if I said yes to everybody we will have 12-14 rounds. Nine is the maximum, because of the logistics. We want to maintain some sea freight, not only air freight, which is important for the budgets.

“And come on, the minimum we race for is six hours.”

Is the Qatar deal helping with freight? Is that part of it?

“The Qatar deal helps us to maintain some destinations, which let’s say are in the history of motorsport. It’s important to remind everyone that they want to welcome us, it’s super nice. They are motivated to welcome us and they love motorsport.”

The Qatar deal helps us to maintain some destinations, which let’s say are in the history of motorsport

So without them, we wouldn’t have as many European races?

“It’s a question of balance.”

What about Silverstone? Are there discussions ongoing?

“Yes, we have ongoing discussions.”

What factors would enable Silverstone to return to the calendar?

“It’s a question of budget, places, the time in the calendar the availability of the track. Formula One is there. It’s not so easy.”

Next year with three new manufacturers there is pressure on the grid. You have already announced that potentially there will be no LMP2 next year. When are you going to tell us ‘yes’ or ‘no’?

“We must validate that with the FIA Endurance Commission, and then it goes to a vote at the World Council. Let’s say the official announcements are for Le Mans, and for the calendar.

“We started to explain that in 2024 that we may not have LMP2 in the WEC but that it would still be eligible for Le Mans. This is a very important category for us. Maybe it’s more than 20 Hypercars?”

Tell us about LMGT3 and how that will work. Will you have enough cars to fill the grid if there are only two classes?

LMP2 is the top class in the ELMS and Asian Le Mans Series, and still eligible for the 24 Hours of Le Mans

“In a perfect world, we would need 35-48 places. We have to respect the process. We discussed with the teams, and we have explained to them that LMP2 is the top class in the ELMS and Asian Le Mans Series, and still eligible for the 24 Hours of Le Mans with around a minimum of 15 places.

“But, if there were not enough cars we may have the possibility to (reinstate LMP2 into the WEC), but not next season.”

Are you looking to have as many manufacturers as possible? Which would reduce the number of cars each manufacturer can bring? Would you limit it to two cars?

“One of the ideas on the table is to have two GT3s per manufacturer, and give priority to the manufacturers involved in Hypercar.”

So you’ve got Ferrari, Porsche, Cadillac (with Corvette), BMW, Lamborghini, Toyota (Lexus)?

“Saying that, we like diversity also. The perfect situation would be to have spaces for marques, and brands, not in Hypercar. We have to find a fair regulation.”

The perfect situation would be to have spaces for marques, and brands, not in Hypercar

So would you limit the number of cars per manufacturer to two?

“Yes. Absolutely.”

You said that’s one of the options though. Is this still a work in progress? If so then what are the other options?

“I say that because this has to be validated. We have to follow a process that we discuss with the FIA Commission, then it goes to the World Council, then there’s a vote, then it’s official.”

Would you give priority to specific teams that have been loyal to the WEC regardless of the manufacturer?

“The idea is that the OEMs will choose the teams.”

So you will allocate them to, say, Aston Martin, and then Aston Martin is responsible for who races?

“This is the idea. Let me insist, that this is the discussion, it’s not official.”

Have you considered following a similar path to IMSA regarding manufacturer fees? So making manufacturers, maybe that isn’t involved in Hypercar pay a fee to be part of the championship (in LMGT3)…

“No, not at the moment.”

So what happens to manufacturers like Aston Martin for instance, that aren’t in Hypercar but have been in the FIA WEC for years?

“This is something we must take into consideration, loyalty to the championship. Of course. The problem once again is 36 places. In a way, the success of Hypercar can bring some other problems. What do we do if we have 26 Hypercars? We have 12 places for GT. We will see.”

How will the system work in other ACO championships like ELMS? Will that be completely different? Or will manufacturers with LMGT3 slots in the WEC get slots in the WEC as well?

“It is too early.”

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