Max Verstappen wins his Nurburgring GT3 race debut… in between F1 race weekends

As if being a four-time Formula 1 world champion and successful sim racer isn’t enough, Max Verstappen seems to be living and breathing racing as the Dutch racer successfully made his GT3 debut at last week’s Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS) race, and also won it.

The ninth race of the Nurburgring Endurance Series takes on the formidable Nordschleife, or the “Green Hell” as many know it. For four hours, Verstappen, alongside teammate Christopher Lulham, took an Emil Frey Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 on the roughly 25km track (in the 24H configuration) to battle a field of roughly 110 cars.

Verstappen and Lulham participated in the fastest SP9 (Group GT3) class that utilizes GT3-class homologated racing cars, going up against the likes of the Porsche 911 GT3 R, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo, Audi R8 LMS Evo II, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, Ford Mustang GT3, Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3, McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, and BMW M4 GT3.

After qualifying P3, he managed to seize P1 after the first corner. Shortly after, Verstappen proceeded to build a massive lead of around one minute after two hours, and left the rest of the field in the dust. 

Seeing how Verstappen simply loves racing, this isn’t the end of his GT3 appearances, and he also hinted at potentially entering 24-hour races, first at the Nordschleife after gaining more experience.

But for sure, we won’t be surprised to see the Dutchman eventually go after more classes, and eventually aim for the coveted Triple Crown, which includes winning the Indianapolis 500, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and winning the Monaco Grand Prix (or being a Formula 1 world champion).

^{Photos from Formula 1, Red Bull Racing, ADAC NLS}