A final 4th place in the European Endurance Championship, a 9th in the
world: Grégoire Saucy takes stock of a “satisfactory” season but which could have been
even better. Interview.
Grégoire Saucy, the 2024 season has just ended at the end of the 8 Hours of Bahrain. Your
feeling?
It was my first season in endurance, I have a positive assessment of it, even if we can always do
better, it's obvious. Also in the world championship, with the British team United
Autosports and the McLaren, that in the European Championship, with the French team TDS Racing, I
learned a lot in the last ten months; the ways of working were very different within the
two cells; this too was enriching.
Three 4th places but no podium in the world championship, a final 4th place with 4 small
points only from the European Championship title: this first season in endurance will not
Doesn't it leave a little bitter taste?
Once again, we can always do better. But hey. With my teammates Mathias Beche and
Rodrigo Sales, we win in ELMS (editor’s note: European championship) at Castellet then at Mugello; This
are two great victories, which must be appreciated at their true value. That said, it's true, I feed a
big regret. On May 11, with James Cottingham and Nicolas Costa, we should have won the 6 Hours of
Spa-Francorchamps, the third round of the WEC (editor’s note: world championship). That day, we
had done just fine, but we were victims of a red flag at the end of the race which ruined
our entire strategy. Rather than finishing first we finished 4th. That, yes, it was infuriating.
The highlight of the season for you?
The 24 Hours of Le Mans, for sure. There, we experienced something “wow”, despite our
retirement occurred at noon on Sunday due to an exploded gearbox. When I took my
first night relay, I had the chills. Unlike Qatar or Bahrain where the track is
lit, there, on the Hunaudières side, it's dark night, we see nothing; we ride slicks and
felt. Impressive.
You competed in two championships in parallel this season: the WEC with the McLaren 720S Evo
in the LMGT3 category, therefore that of production cars, and the ELMS in the LMP2 Pro/Am category in
steering wheel of a prototype. Complicated to move from one seat to another?
It took some getting used to as the brakes are completely different from one car to another, the weight and
behavior as well. The McLaren weighs 1283 kilos and develops 720 horsepower, the LMP2 makes 900
kilos and has “only” 580 horsepower. But it’s with the latter that I reached my speed
maximum this year: 315 km/h at Le Castellet.
Has your cohabitation with your four teammates gone well in recent months?
Yes, really good. This is also one of the great satisfactions of this season. Cottingham, Costa,
Beche and Sales are completely different from each other, but we really formed two
good teams; it went really well.
And Valentino Rossi, who competed in the WEC in the same category as you aboard a BMW?
Awesome! He is very approachable, he talks with everyone, he doesn't worry. But his status
Don't allow him to do whatever he wants. At the end of April, in Imola, we were together at a session
autographs in town, and he was forced to exit the building through a back door to avoid the
crowd, immense. “I hate doing this, but I have no choice,” he told me when we
left the premises.
Will you still be in endurance in 2025?
There is a very good chance, and that is my wish. There, currently, we are in full negotiations,
I should be settled on my short-term future by the end of the month. With McLaren, I signed a
one-year contract, until December 31, 2024. Now, I would like to be able to sign for two or
three years, either with McLaren or with another team, because I received other offers. The ideal, I think,
would be to be able to compete again in the same two championships as this year, the WEC in
LMGT3 and the ELMS in LMP2. In the medium term, my goal remains Hypercar, the premier category of
endurance (editor’s note: where Sébastien Buemi led Toyota to the manufacturers’ world title this
season).
The electric formula?
It remains an interesting option.
Come on, answer us honestly: when you see Franco Colapinto and Oliver Bearman
arriving in F1, don't you feel like a big frustration?
(he smiles) Two drivers that I regularly left behind in F3 for three or four years...
Yes, there is a certain frustration, I admit, but that’s the world of motorsport. Colapinto has
all of Argentina behind him. And Bearman is British. But did you see? Both are
perfectly in the game in F1; this still proves that the F3 championship that I competed in
was of a great level.
Any regrets?
Honestly, yes, I think I could be in their shoes today. But we're not going to do it again
the story. Over time, I realized that the car looked like a basket of
crabs. The world of endurance, in which I now operate, is much healthier; he reigns there
much more solidarity, the team spirit is very present there. I think it suits me well
any further.
Source: Alexandre Lachat, Le Quotidien Jurassien of 06.11.2024
