Max Verstappen goes through his GT experience in obtaining Nordschleife permit to compete in GT3, as fellow F1 drivers react to his run.
It was a big step from Red Bull’s Verstappen to drive a down-tuned GT4 car in the mid-pack last weekend in Nordschleife. In a bid to secure the DMSB license to compete in GT3 car, he was forced to go through the amateur trial like any rookie, during the NLS7 weekend.
He drove the Lionspeed Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS car alongside Chris Lulham. He took part in a wet qualifying and eventually completed his two stints to be 27th overall from over 100 cars that entered. Verstappen noted how it all went smoothly under due process.
He talked about competing in the restricted car and completing his run without any complications. He hopes to return in GT3 machinery now that he has the permit. It won’t be easy to slot in considering his F1 commitments, but he is certain that Red Bull and Helmut Marko will understand the passion.
He revealed how the talks went with Marko and Red Bull having normal scare that anyone would have in the middle of a F1 season. He has no desire of Triple Crown, though, as the focus is solely on endurance side like Le Mans 24 Hours and not racing in IndyCar or Indy500.
How was it –
Verstappen: “I think still mainly a Formula 1 driver, for sure. It was good. I mean, I know that I needed to get my permit, so I had to do that race in a GT4 car. Of course, the car itself, down-tune is not the most exciting to drive, but on the other hand, you still learn a lot from a day like that. Luckily, it rained a bit, it was dry, so you know, you get more experience on the track. Dealing with traffic as a slower car is not always the easiest. And yeah, the rest, I mean, just staying out of trouble, really. But at the end of the day, I think any kind of lap that you drive around there, in any kind of car, is always fun.
“When you try to push it a bit, yeah, you see a lot what is happening around you. The atmosphere is really good. I mean, a lot of passionate Endurance fans are always there anyway. And yeah, it’s kind of my hobby as well, racing in other kind of motorsport than just F1. And of course, my dream is eventually to do the 24-hour race, so I knew that that license needed to come. Yeah, so it was the perfect opportunity to do so.”
Going by the rules –
Verstappen: “I think they were super helpful with me. Of course, we talked to them, how can we make it as smooth as possible, right? Because with some things, like sitting in a classroom, for example, it’s better to just…like we did, we went on the track, we did a lap, and you explained a bit more of the things. It’s also not that I’m a total rookie to the track. Sometimes people are like fully amateur, they don’t know the track even, right? So then it needs a different kind of coaching, but I’ve done already thousands of laps around there, plus the test that I did before. But honestly, they were always very helpful. I know, of course, rules are rules, so you have to stick to it.
“But at the same time, yeah, they were very open-minded. And I think it worked out really well at the end. Well, like I said, they were very helpful. They understood the problem that we faced on race day. And I was like, well, we’ll see. It’s what it is. I tried everything that I could to get the licence, but I would say an hour after the race, it was pretty clear that I was going to get it. I was not involved in any kind of accident or a yellow flag infringement. So it was quite clear cut. And for the future, it also depends on how the next season goes in F1. With new rules, it’s impossible to say now if I can compete in other things outside of that.”
Convincing Red Bull, Helmut Marko –
Verstappen: “I think Helmut always, yeah, he’s very excited about it. He sees also how passionate I am about it and what I’m doing for it. He has raced, of course, himself in endurance, so it’s easier to relate. For me, yes, it is very important to be able to do those things. Of course, how much I can do during an F1 season is a bit tricky, right? Also next year, new regulations, it’s, I think, already hard enough in Formula 1, but, yeah, we’ll just see how everything goes. I mean, for me it’s impossible to say right now what will happen in five or ten years on F1 side or GT side. I don’t know. Le Mans, yes. But I’m not interested in the Triple Crown. I enjoy watching IndyCar. I do not need to drive it myself.”
Endurance a viable option –
Verstappen: “Well, it all depends on your own mindset as a driver, because if your mindset is set on Formula 1, and you do not want to change that perception, then you’re talking to a wall, right? So, sometimes with some of the drivers that I’m close to, they all dream of Formula 1. I also always advise that keep the options open just in case it doesn’t work out, because not everyone always gets the opportunity, even though you might be good enough. And I also do think that with endurance racing, there are a lot of opportunities to have a good career, and just to stare blindly on Formula 1 only sometimes can be a danger as well.
“But I also know that a lot of drivers dream of being here, so it’s not easy to give up that dream as well. But I always feel that once a driver, let’s say, they start realising, I might not make it, and they start trying a GT3 car or whatever, a hypercar, they fall in love with it as well. But maybe sometimes it just takes a bit more time to convince them to not only stare on Formula 1. And like I said, it all depends on the driver’s mindset as well, to be open-minded.”
What other F1 drivers said –
Lando Norris: “I would love to [go racing outside F1]. I saw Zak spoke about it the other day with Le Mans as well, with McLaren going to Le Mans. I would love it. I’m not going to be in Formula 1 forever. I want to go and do other things and live my life. Try other things. I’ll enjoy my time in Formula 1. Whether it’s a mix at some point of also doing some of the other races, I’m not sure. Or it might be when I retire from Formula 1 that I try to do other things. I love doing Daytona. I did it with Fernando, so it was a cool experience for me at the time. But whether it’s Le Mans or Daytona or Sebring, whatever it might be, I want to go and do other things. I think the main thing I probably will never do is oval racing, it is just not for me. I respect Max for going and doing such a thing.
“He’s in a much easier position to go and do those things. If he’s fighting for a championship and those kind of things, it probably wouldn’t look the best. But he’s in a position where he’s also won four world championships. He’s still miles off a championship this year. It can still be possible if Red Bull will turn things around. He’s in a bit of an easier time than maybe what me and Oscar do at the minute. But certainly in my future, I’ll go and do it. Because I think I have the same want and desire as Max to go and do other things. Just to go and do whatever I enjoy. Nordschleife too, yes.”
Pierre Gasly: “I wouldn’t mind right now for the end of the year trying different cars. But I think, in general, as a motor sport fan and lover, if you have the opportunity or the environment to make these things happen, for sure it’s something that must be very exciting. I think it depends a little bit on the focus and the time you have available for these sorts of things. But in the future, clearly, I want to probably try different tracks, different categories just for pure excitement — just for your own pleasure.”
Nico Hulkenberg: “Yeah. Just, you know, honourable how much he loves racing — how much time he puts into it. Formula 1, sim stuff, GT — he’s just such a passionate racer, fully committed to it, 24/7, lives and breathes it. I kind of admire it. I did it. I had a taste of it in 2015 — slightly different, of course — but if I would want to do that now, I’m not so sure. It was fun back then. But, yeah, just hats off to Max. As for my Le Mans run, it was very refreshing. A refreshing distraction. It’s a different racing environment. I dipped into it, had a few tests and then two race weekends and events.
“So, it was not super consuming for the whole year – it was a couple of months. But it’s always nice to explore other things. There’s always things you pick up. It’s not always one-to-one — things you learn and can apply in Formula 1. But if I look back on that year, obviously doing Le Mans was very successful, and at the same time, it didn’t hurt my F1 on-track performance. Quite the opposite, I think. So, yeah, it was quite fun.”
Oscar Piastri: “Yeah. Maybe in the future. I think, right now, I’m quite happy with where I am. But potentially in the future. I think the biggest thing for me would just be giving that opportunity the respect it deserves. Racing at Le Mans, or Nürburgring, or whatever it might be — it wouldn’t be the wisest to just jump straight into a race. You’d want to do some laps beforehand. At the moment, time in the Formula 1 season is hard to come by. So probably not in the near future.”
Liam Lawson: “It’s something—especially that track itself… I’ve never done it in a race car, I’ve only done in a road car. I raced the GP circuit in DTM, but me and Alex Albon took a couple of rental cars, jumped on a WhatsApp call, and raced each other around the Nordschleife, which was pretty fun. It’s an amazing track—there’s not really anything else like it in the world, and it’s very original, which makes it special. In general, Max likes racing—he’s very clear about that. He loves racing on his sim, and when he gets a break it seems he’s going to another track to test or drive other cars, which for him is pretty cool. In those kinds of cars as well, I loved my season in DTM. The racing is very close, it’s exciting. As drivers, you get a lot closer to each other and it feels a lot closer. It’s very difficult to do that in Formula 1. So it’s exciting.”
Lance Stroll: “Yeah, it’s cool. For us drivers, it’s fun to change discipline and challenge ourselves in different ways. It’s fun to feel different cars and experience different kinds of racing. My experience from endurance racing was a lot of fun sharing the car – aside from waking up at 3am with half an hour’s sleep and jumping in and going for three hours. It’s a grind for sure, but it’s cool. It’s fun to change up discipline and try out different stuff.”
Andrea Kimi Antonelli: “I do drive quite a lot of GT cars because of my dad—he has the racing team—so I do end up driving GT quite a lot as well. Even though it’s a different car, it’s still really good training to prove your skills—you have to adapt to a different car. Obviously GTs have very different behaviour compared to a Formula 1 car. When I go into GT, I try to challenge myself and get up to speed as quickly as possible. I also did a race two years ago with a GT, which was a different experience but quite fun. So maybe in the future, why not?”
Alexander Albon: “Yeah, good. I was plane with him on the way here, so we had a good chat about it. He loves his GT racing. I would say he definitely enjoys it more than I do. He’s a guy who just loves racing. It’s fun to just talk to him about it because it’s a clear passion of his. I think it’s partly what separates him from everyone else. He just can’t stop driving. So good for him. I think he’s — I can’t say too much — but it looked like he was invested in it. That’s for sure.”
Isack Hadjar: “Yeah [I saw Max’s GT run], but I mean right now, [I am] not really [thinking about it]. Because I am really focused on hanging on to F1. I think he is not at the same stage of our career, so he can allow himself to go out of his comfort zone where he is really comfortable and try to do stuff. No [I have not driven at Nordscheilfe]. I don’t even know the layout. Yeah, I did [on computer] but I don’t know the track, I forgot it.”
Fernando Alonso: “No, I don’t have [an experience of Nordscheilfe]. Like many of us here, I drove a road car there just for fun. But no, I think on the 24 hours, my interest was always in Le Mans, maybe Daytona as preparation but not in Germany (Nordschleife), not in Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps) – not for the moment. I don’t know, it is a more of a question for him [if he wants to race in GT3 cars in Nordschleife]. I mean it is nice when you try different series in motorsport and you have to learn from the best, you go there and there are drivers who have more experience than you, they know different lines in wet, in inters, in dry, more starts procedures, more driver changes, so there are lot of procedures that gets you involved.
“We are in an adventure and they have more experience than you, so it is nice to learn from zero. Ultimately you want to win the best race in the world and most prestigious in the world, so, maybe for him it is the 24 hours in Nurburgring next year. I guess he has to be in Le Mans, as I said Sebring or whatever is in his head and the same with all the best races in the world.”
Oliver Bearman: “I mean, I hope I am at the stage one day in my career where I can do like Max and just drive whatever he wants and do it for pure passion. Of course, I’m not t that stage yet, but it’s so impressive to see what he is able to do and shows how talented he is as a driver, it’s insane. I think he’s the best driver we’ve ever seen, probably. The fact that he is able to rock up to the Nordschleife, I didn’t follow it honestly properly, but I saw some articles and stuff, it is so cool. For group of guys who are just passionate about racing cars, that’s so cool to see. [I have driven] only on the simulator. Actually, I did one lap with my dad when I was racing at the GP circuit in German F4. It was during COVID, so we had a family SUV – Audi Q7 – that we drove it from the UK.
“I was like 15-years, so I couldn’t drive. So, I was the co-driver. You can buy one or three laps, I think we bought three laps. We did one with my mum in the back and I had to be in the front to tell my dad what corner was coming next because I knew the track, he didn’t. So, this one is flat, this one we have to lift, in this Audi Q7, a big SUV. Then after that my mum got out because she was screaming the entire lap. So, we two went again and we went a bit quicker but at the end of the lap we stopped, the brake fluid was coming out from the calipers, so that wasn’t great. So, we decided not to do the final lap because we needed the car for school the next day.”
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