The FIA WEC’s season finales in Bahrain have never failed to produce drama, with titles seemingly always on the line and the pressure for underperforming teams and drivers to deliver ratcheted up ahead of the off-season.
It’s often an emotional occasion too, and this year is no different. Up and down the paddock there are several milestones to note as eras come to an end and new beginnings approach.
A handful of them come at Porsche, which is gunning for a historic sweep of FIA WEC Hypercar titles with its factory 963s in the hope of adding to the Penske-run factory outfit’s suite of successes in IMSA’s GTP class this year.
Looking beyond the championship battles, a spotlight currently shines on its factory driver roster because change is afoot. Porsche’s decision to shift to competing with two drivers for the full season in 2025 has led to two key departures and one key hire, with Andre Lotterer and Fred Makowiecki out and Julien Andlauer in.
Marshall Pruett recently described Dane Cameron’s situation on the IMSA side of the Porsche equation as “bizarre”. The American is another driver from PPM’s stable who finds himself moving on, despite winning the IMSA GTP Drivers’ title and the Rolex 24 this year.
Lotterer finds himself in an eerily similar position. Tomorrow, he will fight for the FIA WEC Hypercar Drivers’ title (and the Manufacturers’ title) with Laurens Vanthoor and Kevin Estre in his final outing for the factory prototype team.
The 42-year-old German will leave Porsche Penske Motorsport at the conclusion of a highly successful, turnaround season for the brand’s flagship sportscar program.
To this point, the three-time Le Mans winner has helped the No. 6 963 capture victories at Qatar and Fuji, putting himself and his co-drivers 35 points clear at the top of the table, meaning he wields the chance to end 2024 on the highest of notes tomorrow.
Lotterer could echo IMSA counterpart Dane Cameron in winning a championship for Porsche on his way out the door, but the three-time Le Mans winner is hoping to continue his career elsewhere next year. JEP/Motorsport Images
Looking ahead, Lotterer’s future in the sport isn’t clear, though he’s adamant that he isn’t ready to hang up his helmet just yet. He’s understood to be in discussions with multiple manufacturers for 2025 and beyond, and may even find a landing spot with Porsche outside of the factory Hypercar program.
“They (Porsche) made the decision (not to renew his 963 program contract) a while ago, and I understood they were going to stick to that regardless of how the season went. They have their agenda, so I need to focus on mine and I look forward to continuing,” he told RACER.
“Of course there are options with Porsche elsewhere, there is loyalty because I’ve been with the (VAG) group for a long time, since 2010. The aim was always to grow old together, but the thing is, I don’t want to stop driving yet. I want to decide when.
“It’s not an easy marketplace though. There are a lot of drivers, it’s hard to find somewhere that ticks all the boxes and has a strong foundation. I don’t want to continue just for the sake of it. But I think my value is here (in the WEC), I don’t think I’ll be back in Formula E or Formula 1.
“So I said to Porsche: ‘Let’s finish the year with a title and see where we go from there.’”
Fred Makowiecki holds a different outlook as he exits stage left, after more than a decade of service for the brand. He reflects on his time with Porsche – which included wins at Le Mans and the Nürburgring 24 Hours – fondly, because, in his words, “there have been so many special moments.” But he feels ready to move on.
“I want to finish well and give Porsche a Manufacturers’ title,” he said. “But this is all a reflection on myself. I asked what I wanted as a person. I was open with Urs (Kuratle, Porsche’s Director of Factory Racing) and Thomas (Laudenbach, vice president of Porsche Motorsport), I asked to leave, they listened to what I had to say and accepted my decision. After 11 years you have to realize what makes you happy in racing and life, and I need a new challenge.
“I got the chance to race with one of the biggest manufacturers worldwide. But that doesn’t mean it’s all easy or perfect. When you are somewhere for a long time there are aspects that don’t go the way you want them and make you want change.
“This all came step by step. For sure the hard season with car No.5 this year hasn’t helped because I felt that problems we had took too long to fix.”
Makowiecki’s decision to end his long relationship with Porsche stemmed largely from the desire to try something new. Image via Porsche AG
Reports out of France suggest that he’s heading to Alpine, though nothing has been announced at this point. The Frenchman was not willing to go into detail or disclose plans for the future when RACER spoke to him this week.
“Let’s finish here first. There are plenty of rumors,” he said. “We are in a world where people are convinced of something even if they are just suspicious. At the moment nothing is confirmed, let’s finish with Porsche first. For sure I will not retire, I want to be on the grid but with a slightly different approach to the last couple of years.”
Have these situations been tough to manage at Porsche and Penske, with the season reaching its natural crescendo and plenty still to play for?
“Not at all, they’ve been acting 100 per cent professional all the way through, which is great to see,” Laudenbach told RACER. “They are giving everything here for themselves and the team. For sure it’s a special situation, but it occurs on a regular basis in our job.”
On the other side of the coin, there’s Julien Andlauer. The Frenchman is primed to step up to the factory roster after rising up the ranks via the brand’s junior program and is eager to get the 2025 campaign – which he will spend racing alongside Michael Christensen in the WEC – going.
In amongst the galaxy of stars in Hypercar this season, the 25-year-old has found ways to stand out, which is particularly impressive considering he’s been driving a customer-run Porsche 963 all year and had no previous prototype experience to build on heading into the campaign.
His performance during the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps back in May was perhaps the most memorable of his career to date. In that outing he steered Proton’s Porsche to the front of the field, making a number of daring overtakes along the way. It turned heads and is still referenced in conversations across the WEC paddock to this day.
Did that get the phone ringing and seal his fate?
“For sure it helped!” he laughed. “But this year I had amazing teammates in Neel (Jani) and Harry (Tincknell) who helped me improve all year. Being fast is not the only thing, you have to be the complete package in and out of the car, which is what I’ve focused on. I knew I needed to be a smart driver.
“I kept in contact with Porsche all year and at one point they said they were considering me, without putting pressure on. They just wanted me to get experience. They knew changes would happen, but couldn’t confirm anything until meetings around Petit Le Mans. Originally I was given indications I may do IMSA, but in the end, I will be in the WEC.”
Either way, Andlauer has been chosen to bolster Penske’s line-up and help it fight for a world title and the 963’s first Le Mans win. And having already spent a full WEC season driving the car under his belt, he has an opportunity to make an impact straight away.
“It’s a super program to join and the timing is amazing, they struggled a lot last year but they’ve been fantastic this year,” he said. “I will arrive with my backpack full of experience and try to get straight on the same level as the others. I know I just need to keep doing what I am doing and see if it matches with the big boys.”
