Fresh off a somewhat surprising victory at the Italian Formula 1 Grand Prix on Sunday, four-time F1 champ Max Verstappen will be making his GT racing debut at the Nurburgring Nordschleife this weekend. Racing publication Auto Motor Sport first reported that Verstappen is headed to Germany later this week, where he will undergo several steps to gain racing clearance at the famed track.
According to the publication, Verstappen will take a theory test this Friday, which should give him the first of two green lights necessary to race GT3 cars, such as the one he famously drove earlier this year under the name Franz Hermann. Should the Dutch ace that test, he will then be required to pass a final exam on Saturday, which involves finishing a race in a smaller, slower category. The report claims this could be done in a Porsche Cayman GT4 CS from the Lionspeed GP team, as acquaintances of Verstappen, Chris Lulhalm and Thierry Vermeulen, recently did to achieve the clearance necessary to race GT3 cars on the Nordschleife.
It appears that two different race starts are required to receive the final clearance; however, due to Verstappen’s means and experience, he may likely fulfill this requirement by fulfilling two separate stints in two different cars during the same race on Saturday. Per the report, the Red Bull driver would have to drive each race car for a total of 14 laps without receiving a penalty to get the officials to sign off. In theory, all tests and races could be completed by the end of the week.
NLS/Nordschleife – Verstappen
Max Verstappen's first steps on the Nordschleife
Autosport claims that Red Bull Racing advisor Helmut Marko has already signed off on this new adventure, despite saying that Verstappen “wasn’t even talking about GT” a few days ago while at the Italian GP.
It’s understood that once all the requirements are out of the way, Verstappen will then compete in the Nuerburgring Langstrecken Series (NLS) race two weeks later, following the Azerbaijan GP. He would be driving a Ferrari 296 GT3 from the Emil Frey Racing Team, just like the one he drove to an unofficial track record at the Green Hell not long ago.
The young F1 champ has previously shared his desire to compete in other series, especially endurance and sports car racing. During an interview back in November of last year, Verstappen shared with me that endurance racing is highly appealing to him, and that he’s constantly thinking about races like Le Mans and Daytona, and that the slower pace of the WEC series is also something that interests him.
Is this weekend’s outing simply a way for Verstpapen to blow off some steam and forget about the pressures of F1 for a bit, or is it an early look at “next steps” for the F1 champ?
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