Be careful, one start may hide another this week in the Middle East. While His Majesty Formula 1 returns to the track at the call of the Bahrain Grand Prix, the World Endurance Championship lights the green light on the Losail circuit, scene of the 1812Km of Qatar. A highly anticipated opening round, too, since 19 Hypercars representing 9 manufacturers will begin to battle it out. Among these: the Porsche 963 No. 12 of Hertz Team Jota entrusted to the trio Will Stevens-Norman Nato-Callum Ilott. Second in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2020, Nato l’Antibois, at 31, is making his comeback in the upper echelons of the WEC. As in Formula E, under the star-studded banner of the American team Andretti joined this winter, he intends to do well…
Norman, you are back full-time in the ranks of the premier class of the WEC. How did this new beginning materialize?
Endurance, for me, is very important. I say it, I repeat it, you know it… Last year, the opportunity to carry out a second program did not present itself. On the Formula E side, Nissan had not vetoed it. But the restructuring of the team and the development of the new Gen3 single-seater required such a workload… Ultimately, I was only able to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMP2 category. A single race, as prestigious as it may be, is not enough! For 2024, discussions with the Jota team started quite early. They were considering hiring a second car. My profile interested them. As I had the green light from Andretti to compete in the WEC in parallel, we were able to validate the agreement early, just before the Rookie Test in Bahrain (early November 2023, editor’s note)once the calendar matching problem has been resolved.
Exactly, what are you going to do on the weekend of May 12 when Formula E and the WEC run at the same time?
Priority to Formula E, as planned in the event of a clash of dates. I will therefore be in Berlin to complete the two races scheduled for that weekend while my Jota teammates will compete in the 8 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps as a pair. No one will replace me in Belgium.
Is driving for Porsche, a brand that forged the legend of Endurance at Le Mans and elsewhere, a special thrill?
Ah yes, it’s special, obviously. 2024, for me, is a Porsche power 2 season: Endurance and Formula E (the German firm supplies its powertrain to the Andretti team). That said, it is necessary to distinguish between the official team (Porsche Penske Motorsport) and ours. Jota is a “semi-factory” team that works like a factory. And who knows how to keep reason. We are lucid. Up front, there will still be Toyota, Ferrari, perhaps another manufacturer… We, over the entire season, will not be able to compete regularly with the big guys.
No fewer than 9 brands entered… and 19 Hypercars on the WEC starting grid in 2024: what do you think is the key to success?
Regulations. The budgetary framework. Hybrid technology. So many factors which made manufacturers want to move towards this discipline. In Endurance as elsewhere, there are cycles. Here we are entering a prosperous period. The same goes for Formula E, which attracts many companies. I have the chance to compete in the two most attractive automobile championships today following Formula 1. I am aware of that.
The famous “Balance of Performance” (BoP), this equivalence system in force to allow cars of different technical designs to compete in the same category, continues to cause a lot of ink and saliva to flow… Qu do you think?
It already existed in GT. And it worked. Everyone has their own opinion. We can criticize. The fact remains that it is the only solution if you want to limit budgets. Because if there is total financial freedom, you will go into an uncontrollable arms war. And you will lose several manufacturers. How many fewer teams and cars on the grid? I think we have to deal with it, put up with it. Obtaining perfect equity is mission impossible. Some routes will suit Toyota better, others for Ferrari, for Porsche… Today, overall, Toyota maintains the status of favorite by relying on its immense experience. It’s up to the competition to work hard to improve their package and narrow the gap…
How many days of testing to prepare?
Not a lot! If we want to count them, one hand is enough. At the end of 2023, around a month following the Rookie Test, as the cars remained in the Middle East, we were able to schedule two days of testing on the circuit of the opening round, in Qatar. And then nothing more until the Prologue (this Monday and Tuesday). Only official teams developing their Hypercar can carry out 24-hour or 30-hour simulations. At Jota, we focus on our job, on ourselves. There, just before the initial deadline, the important thing is to fine-tune the settings and finish assimilating the different procedures behind the wheel.
Your teammates?
Even though we never worked together, Will (Stevens), I know him well. We’ve been meeting since the days of karting. He has already done quite a bit of work with the Jota team. Significant advantage. Callum (Ilott), he has less experience than us in Endurance. But he is young, fast, light. After F2 (vice-champion in 2020), he left for the United States. He did pretty well in IndyCar. I think we form a homogeneous, complete trio.
Among the second Jota crew is a certain Jenson Button. What do you think of this 44-year-old Hypercar rookie?
Is he 44 years old? Really? So he doesn’t look his age! I think it’s great to have a guy like him among us. Jenson, first of all, he has intact motivation. And then he has nothing to prove. We know his peak speed. His career speaks for itself. Therefore, he is not going to work for his apple, setting a bad mood. On the contrary, we know that he will bring us a lot in terms of working method and feedback. With two cars instead of one and an F1 world champion (in 2009) in the squad, there is no doubt that the team will progress more quickly.
Faced with such fierce competition, what are you aiming for? What might a successful 2024 season look like?
I hope we will get some podiums. Because we are starting with this ambition in mind. For us, Le Mans is the best chance in my opinion. Because a lot of things can happen in the space of 24 hours. The centenary edition illustrated this perfectly last year, with quite a few twists and turns and different leaders. Pure performance weighs less than during a 6 or 8 hour sprint. And more generally, given the running deficit compared to the official teams, if we manage to finish in the top 5 of the championship, we might consider that this is a very big result.
