Vandoorne hopes WEC schedule won't forbid Aston F1 involvement

Stoffel Vandoorne will be a busy man in 2024, with commitments in the WEC and in Formula E, but the Belgian also hopes to remain involved in F1 with Aston Martin despite his busy schedule.

Next year, Vandoorne will remain with DS Penske in Formula E for a second season, but the 31-year-old will also undertake a full campaign in the World Endurance Championship with Peugeot's works Hypercar outfit.

This season, Vandoorne is sharing the reserve driver role at Aston Martin with Felipe Drugovich, a function that includes simulator work with Team Silverstone but which also gave the Belgian an opportunity to sample last summer the outfit's AMR23 car during a Pirelli tyre test.

It's unlikely Vandoorne will revive his career in F1 but he still hopes to keep a foot in the door in 2024 despite having a full plate of racing on his agenda.

• Read also: Vandoorne handed Peugeot WEC drive for 2024 campaign

"Obviously, it gets quite busy, and there's only so many days in the year to get around," he said, quoted by Motorsport.com.

"But I think it's still possible to be involved with Aston. It requires a bit of management with all the parties, and everyone needs to be very aware of what the priorities are, what my availabilities are.

"As long as everyone is on the same page with that, then that's possible.

"I think, above all, it's up to me as well to be very clear about that with all the parties, in terms of where to put my time, but also how to manage my whole travelling and my energy levels, because there's a lot of time being spent on airplanes.

"I'm making sure that that does not affect my racing."

Vandoorne's 2024 schedule offers a few convenient logistics, such as Formula E's round in Tokyo next April that will be followed by the Japanese Grand Prix the following weekend.

"There are races where it will fit in quite nicely if you're in the right region," he said. "And some [are] where it's completely another continent, which is not nice.

"What I want to avoid is to go from one continent to another continent and spending a lot of energy on that for nothing."

Vandoorne argues that F1's expanded 24-race calendar in 2024 will require teams to split their reserve driver duties. The Belgian hopes this will work in his favour next year while racing in another series will also keep him race fit for F1.

"With Aston Martin there's myself and Felipe," he said. "So we're two, and what you kind of need to do is to split that role. I wouldn't want to come to 24 races and not drive anything.

"How can you ever be ready, if you need to jump in? As a racing driver, you still need to race, and you still need to drive. And that's kind of the best preparation to be to be ready.

"So the good thing is Aston Martin understand that, and they know that you have to race in order to be fit and to be ready to jump in. I'd say from that point it's good."

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