Sebastian Vettel will not launch a return to premier motorsport this year at Le Mans.
The retired quadruple world champion recently tested Porsche’s Le Mans-ready 963 hypercar, amid speculation he may join the driver line-up for the marque’s third car entry.
It was even suggested that Porsche had delayed the planned announcement of that third car’s driver lineup while the German camp waited for 36-year-old Vettel’s decision.
However, the specialist Motorsport Aktuell magazine published a month ago that "Porsche factory drivers have apparently already been informed that the third car will be driven by Mathieu Jaminet, Felipe Nasr and Nick Tandy as originally planned".
That has now finally been confirmed by Porsche, who made no mention of Vettel in the official statement.
"After announcing the entry of a third car in Le Mans, we still had two driver positions available," said boss Urs Kuratle. "The decision was not easy for us given our very strong and equally skilled squad.
"Ultimately, one of the deciding factors was having Le Mans experience."