– Although Penske was able to achieve a dominant double victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring 2026, there was trouble in paradise: Kevin Estre accused his teammate and race winner Felipe Nasr of not respecting an internal team order when he was leading about an hour before the end of the race.
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But the internal team spat, which caused quite a stir after the race, will not stop Penske from continuing to issue team orders in the future if the situation requires it. “Yes, definitely,” confirms Penske team president Jonathan Diuguid ahead of the next IMSA race in Long Beach.
“I think every single manufacturer at the 12 Hours of Sebring used team orders. Cadillac swapped positions between the #10 and the #31 at the end of the race. The BMWs changed positions both on the track and in the pits.”
“Acura also swapped on track and in the pits,” Diuguid recalls. “That’s part of the sport and part of being successful – with the pit strategies and everything that goes with it. So yes, absolutely, because ultimately our goal is to ensure that our Porsche finishes first, and we will do everything for that.”
Andlauer admits: “Some made mistakes”
Julien Andlauer, who is driving the #7 Penske Porsche this season together with Felipe Nasr, confirmed during an IMSA media round on Wednesday the rumors that there was an internal discussion at Penske following the incident in Sebring.
“Yes, and that’s exactly the point: we all talked about it, presented our points of view and returned to the basics – namely mutual respect and that everything internal should remain internal,” reveals Andlauer.
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“Some made mistakes,” the Frenchman adds, but holds back on accusations. “I’m not going to talk about driver management or anything like that now, but we discussed everything openly so that something like this doesn’t happen again.”
Diuguid: “There are no ongoing tensions”
Diuguid, who is also responsible for the strategy of the #6 Penske Porsche with Estre and Laurens Vanthoor, was asked by Motorsport.com whether it was a pure driver meeting or a more comprehensive meeting with him and other executives to clarify the situation with regard to the race in Long Beach next week.
“The details of our analysis are not crucial,” the American replied. “What is important is: we looked at all levels of the team, how the drivers interacted with each other, how Travis Law (strategist on the #7 Penske Porsche) and I acted, and how management handled the situation.”
“We discussed what went well and what didn’t. Ultimately, we brought all the drivers together, spoke openly about missteps or mistakes, or whatever you want to call it, and defined the expectations for the future. Everyone left the meeting with a common understanding and a common goal.”
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“There are no ongoing tensions or anything like that, but team orders have always been part of sports car racing and motorsport in general, and that won’t change. And I hope that in Long Beach we will again be in the situation of talking about which of our PPM cars finishes first.”
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