The nighttime high-speed accident between Robert Kubica in the #83 AF-Corse Ferrari 499 P and Dries Vanthoor’s #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 was one of the biggest upsets at the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans. The last word has not yet been spoken: BMW works driver Vanthoor accuses the Polish ex-Formula 1 driver of having an intention behind it, as he revealed in the joint podcast ‘OverTheLimit‘ with his older brother Laurens suspected.
“Personally, I think he did it on purpose,” Dries Vanthoor speculated in the episode released on Tuesday evening. “The way he defended himself was wrong. The way he didn’t care about me after the crash, showed no respect, was just human towards me, showed me that it was intentional.”
He repeated the presumption of intent several times in the hour-long podcast after the accident, which resulted in Vanthoor’s BMW being written off and him being taken to the medical center for a routine check-up. The Belgian on Kubica: “He didn’t even bother to write a message or ask how I was doing. If I had a crash with someone and knew that they were injured or had to go to the medical center, I would just be respectful.”
If things had gone differently after the accident at almost 300 km/h at the end of the Hunaidieres straight, the matter would have been settled, according to Vanthoor: “If he had come to me after the stint or called to clarify everything, he would have been the nicest guy. Then I would have forgotten about it straight away. (…) But he didn’t even do that.”
Robert Kubica defends himself against Vanthoor allegations
In a short YouTube video clip from the Polish broadcaster ‘Motowizja‘ Kubica argued, among other things: “I am not someone who would drive into another car at 300 km/h when I am leading the race, there are still 18 hours to go and would risk ending up in the barriers.” The full interview with Kubica is due to be published on Thursday evening.
Vanthoor announced that he would seek a discussion with the race management at the next opportunity. Not to impose a retroactive penalty on Kubica, but to understand the severity of the penalty. Vanthoor described the accident penalty for the Ferrari driver – a 30-second stop-and-go penalty that cost around 1:15 minutes – as “a bit of a joke, not just for me, but also for others. It is important to me that something improves there.”
Vanthoor left the media center after the routine examination with a slight headache and “something small” on his foot. Afterwards, he was attacked on social media by Kubica supporters, which Vanthoor described as follows: “I received a lot of hate from his fans. It’s not nice, but I understand that they support him. But they don’t understand the bigger picture of motorsport.”
Dries Vanthoor defends himself despite blue flags
The Vanthoor brothers also spoke in detail about this “overall picture”. The bottom line is that Dries defended himself against Kubica, who was the overall leader at the time, during his out lap (lap 103) with cold slick tires in order not to fall out of the lead lap. He was told by his WRT-BMW team that it was “crucial to keep the other car behind me”.
Already at the pit exit and also in the following kilometers, Vanthoor was signaled several times by blue flags via LED lights at the side of the track, as is usual for vehicles that are about to be lapped. However, Vanthoor continued to fight against Kubica, who was flashing his headlights, and according to his own statements also wanted to position a Ford Mustang GT3 between himself and the Ferrari in order to create some breathing room.
“I know that Dries was told to stay on the lead lap,” said Kubica, who criticized the lack of respect in endurance racing. “On the other hand, if my engineer told me to jump from the 8th floor, I wouldn’t do it. But it looks like other drivers are doing that.”
Vanthoor: “He decided to make it more dangerous”
At the end of the approximately 6-kilometer-long Hunaidieres straight, the hypercar duo then ran into a GT3 Porsche from Manthey, which was driving on the left side of the road and holding its line. Vanthoor from his point of view: “I wanted to use the Porsche to slow him (Kubica). But that didn’t work because he had a good run. I was fair and made room so that he could also get past the Porsche and it wouldn’t be too dangerous. But unfortunately I think he decided to make it more dangerous and he pushed me off.”
Vanthoor continued: “He just turned right as if there was nobody there and I drove completely straight ahead.” The stewards also described the scene in their verdict and noted that Kubica turned slightly to the right and hit the BMW on the left front wheel while overtaking.
Stewards take circumstances into account in Kubica penalty
During the hearing, the AF Corse team manager explained that the BMW was on its out lap, one lap behind Kubica and, in his opinion, had no reason to fight for position. Vanthoor also took a shortcut in the chicane and was shown blue flags before the incident.
“The Stewards acknowledge that all of this is true and have taken it into account as mitigating circumstances,” it said. “However, it does not change the fact that the incident was a mistake caused entirely by Car 83 (Kubica) pulling to the right while the cars were travelling at very high speed and Car 83 was still alongside Car 15 (Vanthoor).” Kubica famously received a 30-second pit stop penalty as well as two FIA penalty points.
“Having a collision at this point is very dangerous,” said BMW Motorsport Director Andreas Roos to Motorsport-Magazin.comwithout wanting to publicly assess the severity of the punishment. “It was an accident at 280 to 300 km/h, the car is a total write-off.” Kubica was able to continue driving and, despite the penalty, continued to fight for the lead until a drive problem caused the #83 Ferrari to be technically knocked out.
Vanthoor: Allowed, but rules not fully respected
In the podcast, Vanthoor did not want to admit to having seen the blue flags – clearly visible from the onboards – in the intense duel with Kubica. Otherwise, he said, he would not have acted differently. And: “I did not fully respect the rules, but the rules say: I have two sectors to let someone pass.”
As far as we understand, the 13.626-kilometer-long Circuit de la Sarthe is divided into just three sectors. The first two sectors cover the route from the start/finish to the end of the Hunaidieres straight, including the two chicanes to the Mulsanne corner. According to Vanthoor’s statement, he should have been allowed to keep Kubica behind him for around 8 kilometers, despite the blue flags being displayed.
What was said in detail about the flag rule in the drivers’ meeting is not publicly known. The notes from the team manager and driver briefings read: “Blue flags (Appendix H ISC Article 2.5.5.e) must be respected at all times.” This appendix of the International Sporting Code (ISC) states: When blue flags are shown, the driver concerned must let the following car pass at the “earliest opportunity”.
Both Vanthoor brothers could understand during the conversation that Kubica (“There are championships in which Dries apparently drives, where nobody cares about blue flags or the rules”) certainly did not like losing time behind Vanthoor’s BMW with its cold slick tires. Laurens described the situation as debatable, and Dries agreed: “That is debatable, I would not like that either. You get annoyed. But that is never a reason to push someone off. That is not how racing works. It is about contact and nothing else.”