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Introducing new Porsche Penske Motorsport WEC driver Julien Andlauer
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Ahead of his first season as part of the Porsche Penske Motorsport roster, Julien Andlauer talked about his upbringing, life in racing and love of Le Mans.
Andlauer is the latest addition to the Porsche factory team, driving the #5 Porsche 963 in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2025 alongside Michael Christensen.
The 25-year-old moves up to the PPM team after spending a year with Proton Competition in the WEC’s Hypercar category, giving him insight into the Porsche 963 and valuable experience in the top class of endurance racing.
This is not Andlauer’s first adventure with Porsche though - he is a long-time member of the family, dating back to his first full-time season in Porsche Carrera Cup racing in 2017, before being named Porsche Junior in 2018.
Taking GTE Am class victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans that year, Andlauer then went on to claim the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland title in 2019, finishing third overall in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup the same year.
After racing across several classes in a disrupted 2020 season, Andlauer raced in five WEC rounds in 2021 and 2022, when he finished second in his class at Le Mans, before undertaking his first full-time campaign in 2023.
His signing, which he brands “a dream come true”, makes him the fourth former Porsche Junior to compete for the Porsche Penske Motorsport works team in WEC next year, alongside Christensen, Matt Campbell and Mathieu Jaminet.
Hailing from Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon, France, Andlauer’s passion has been motorsport since a young age. His enthusiasm for go-karting was sparked by his father’s purchase of a track in 1999 - the year he was born - and he jokes he was “born on the race track.”
“I tried other sports - tennis, football, etc, but did not fit me at all, I was really bad. So I stuck to karting as a hobby, but it got more and more serious, and we grew from category to category, and it got a bit more serious, and we started to have some results.
“So we decided to take it a bit more seriously and tried to do bigger races and it went pretty well.”
After success in karting, in 2015 Andlauer advanced into French Formula 4, where he achieved third overall, and made a guest appearance in the Porsche Carrera Cup France championship - something he says made him “fall in love with Porsche.”
He contested the full 2016 season and was crowned runner-up in the rookie classification, before winning the overall title in 2017. This prompted his entry into the Porsche Junior shootout, which he won - something he says was “the most important switch” in his career and set him on a path to becoming a Porsche factory driver, the “grail of motorsport.”
“It’s the best programme we have so far,” he says. “In between all this, there's been a lot of things happening, like winning the Carrera Cup Deutschland as well, winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans for our first year in GT Am, and I became the youngest ever Le Mans winner thanks to this.
“So a lot that I did together with Porsche. Also I did the last seven years, the 24 Hours of Le Mans together with Porsche and Proton every single year, so that's also a great achievement.
“I had the opportunity this year to continue working with my family team, which is Proton. They welcomed me in 2018 for Le Mans, and this year, I did the full WEC season together with them in Hypercar, which was very new to me and I loved it.
“It was a great year and I learned a lot with this new category, this new car, and also being in the top category is something different.”
Andlauer had a stellar maiden Hypercar campaign, helping the team to a best finish of fifth-place at
His season impressed fans, the Porsche Penske Motorsport team and also the WEC itself, which presented him with the Revelation of the Year award in Bahrain which he says was a “huge surprise.”
Though Andlauer bids a fond farewell to his Proton family ahead of the 2025 season, he leaves with happy memories of the team which gave him “the biggest opportunity.”
“When you’re young and you have this chance, you have to realise that it's great for you to promote yourself, but you're gonna listen to instructions, you’re gonna bring the car back, be fast, but not try to be the hero,” Andlauer says.
“And I think that's where we did great together, because they really welcomed me in the team, in the family, and made me feel very comfortable. And I didn't have to push over the limit to do my job, and we did it very well together with Chris [Proton Competition boss Christian Ried] and Matt [Campbell], and since then, I did Le Mans every single year with them, I did WEC with them this year and last year.
“It promotes also the team in a very good way, if you look at the drivers that went and passed through Proton over the last few years, there is Matt, there is me and many others, and today we are factory drivers in the best program, so it also shows people that it's a great team to improve progress, learn and enjoy yourself.
“I'm sure in the future, I'll still be able to work with them in maybe another championship, so we’re still in very good contact and I think they are also very happy for me.”
Looking ahead to 2025, Andlauer will be paired with Christensen, who he raced alongside for the first time at the 2024 edition of Petit Le Mans.
He believes his team-mate will be a “big source of experience”, adding: “The execution, the process during the race weeks, the way of working, I think [Christensen] is going to be very inspiring for me.
“But also on track, he's really good, and I think is the kind of team-mate that you really want to have, because you can be sure when he's in the car, he’s going to perform really good and also bring the car back.
“This is all you want from your team-mate: to be good and to bring the car back. And the other thing is also, I think it's good to work with him because he really fits to the Porsche values in DNA, where he doesn't have an ego to be the fastest driver of the car and neither do I.
“So that's where we're gonna really fit together, and we're really gonna push the maximum from our side to just have the best package to perform and to win. There will be no fight between us, or even the other car or anything, we just focus on putting our work on the table and make the best out of it.”
Andlauer’s undoubted highlight of 2025 will be the 24 Hours of Le Mans. With fellow Frenchman Mathieu Jaminet joining their full-time pairing, he and Andlauer will be gunning for victory at their home race.
He says being a part of the crown jewel of endurance racing was a big motivating factor in competing in WEC next year, and is excited to take part in the blue riband event as a factory driver.
“It means just everything, and when we had the first thoughts to go with Urs [Kuratle, Porsche Motorsport Director of Factory Racing] or even Porsche Penske Motorsport in general, I say I love both championships, WEC and IMSA, but I need to do Le Mans, and I want to do Le Mans, so please let me do Le Mans,” Andlauer says.
“And that was almost not a topic for them, that sounded logical for them, that I do Le Mans as a Frenchman but also I've done Le Mans for the last seven years.
“I did it in this car also this year, and to do Le Mans as a driver is already a huge achievement, just to do Le Mans, not even to perform or do a podium, because I think it's the biggest endurance race in the world, and one of the most prestigious races in the motorsport world.
“But to do it as a Frenchman is even better, and I've done it for the last seven years. This year, to fight for an overall result, but this is going to be very different, because joining the factory team means that you're gonna [have] much more information, data, and be able to work with two or three cars on the grid, gonna be very helpful.
“Together with Mathieu would be great as well, we’ve been team-mates a few times already, we love Le Mans, we are French. There's nobody that would want to win Le Mans more than PPM and French drivers together.”
After a stellar 2024 and with myriad achievements behind him, Andlauer will certainly bring much to the team next year as he steps up to become a factory driver. Can he help Porsche to its much-anticipated 20th overall victory at Le Mans, and retain the WEC drivers’ crown?
The FIA World Endurance Championship returns with the Qatar 1812km on February 28.
