Alessio Picariello has been very impressive across various cars in his career, including GTs and single-seaters.
The Belgian began on the road to Formula 1 as he raced in various Formula Renault championships in his junior career.
Picariello won the GTE class in the European Le Mans Series last year and has also driven at the Nurburgring 24 Hours.
GT cars can be very difficult to master because they have a lot of weight and downforce. Driver aids such as ABS and traction control can also be tricky to adjust to.
Picariello would like to race in the World Endurance Championship in 2025 and told sportcar365 what he would like to compete in alongside it.
Alessio Picariello would like to compete in GT cars alongside a season in WEC
Picariello has been a consistent driver across various GT car classes but has begun to branch out into prototypes and LMDh machinery.
The Belgian raced in IMSA in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling-backed Proton Porsche 963 for much of this year’s IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup.
He raced in four of the five rounds, which was a good experience to learn more about American tracks in a very different style of car.
Picariello didn’t manage a podium finish but broke into the top five twice. The Porsche driver finished fifth at Daytona and Indianapolis in IMSA.
The World Endurance Championship would be a step up as the nine manufacturers in Hypercar are very experienced.
Toyota have been at the front for multiple years, while Porsche and Ferrari have been competitive since joining the championship more recently.
Picariello explained that he would like to compete in Hypercar in WEC and GT cars, but IMSA is also very appealing.
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He said: “The best thing would be to combine it with GTs, but I would like my main program to be in prototypes and then do the big races in GTs. Last year I would have said differently, but now that I tried it, and I understand it, I really like IMSA.
“I think it’s somewhere that customer teams can fight a bit more because of the format of the races. I would be happy either way, WEC has a bit more ‘hype’ around it, but IMSA is maybe a bit more fun because of the circuits and the spirit of the paddock.”
Alessio Picariello will have to adjust to some new tracks in WEC
Picariello has already raced at some of the circuits on the calendar in the World Endurance Championship, such as Le Mans
This will be a valuable experience for the Belgian as he can understand the fine details quicker on a race weekend. Hypercars can also be daunting to drive, even for Valentino Rossi, who had doubts about the BMW.
Some circuits will be new, such as the season opener at the Lusail International Circuit, which is a very demanding circuit on tyres.
A step into the Hypercar category in WEC would be a significant jump in Picariello’s career, reaching the highest level of endurance racing and the top class.