Max Verstappen Set To Make Nürburgring Debut This Weekend

With as grueling as a 24-race intercontinental schedule can be, it would be easy to assume that every Formula 1 driver would use any spare moment for rest and relaxation. However, the reigning world champion is using the upcoming gap in F1’s schedule to go racing off the clock. Max Verstappen will be making his debut in the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS) for a doubleheader this weekend. The track’s endurance championship isn’t throwing the door open for the Dutch driver either. Verstappen still needs to earn his Nürburgring racing license.

The Nürburgring is unrivaled by any other racing circuit in the world for notoriety and difficulty. The Deutscher Motor Sport Bund (DMSB), Germany’s governing body for racing, understandably has licensing standards specifically for the Nordschleife. According to Motorsport.com, Verstappen will have to jump through most of the hoops to compete. On Friday, the four-time F1 champion will take a DMSB Academy classroom course before sitting for a written exam to earn an entry-level B Permit. He would then be eligible to race in the slower classes.

The end goal is for Verstappen to race a Ferrari 296 GT3 with Emil Frey Racing on Sunday. However, he wouldn’t be able to do it with an entry-level license. On Saturday, he will race a Porsche Cayman GT4 CS to fulfill the requirements for an A Permit. The elevated credential would grant the Red Bull Racing driver permission to race in the GT3 category, the pinnacle at the Nürburgring.

Verstappen has driven Emil Frey Racing’s Ferrari 296 GT3 during an NLS test session earlier this year under the pseudonym “Franz Hermman.” The nom de course immediately became pointless after the F1 champion purportedly broke the Nürburgring GT3 lap record for the test’s 24.3 km layout. It didn’t count outside of a competitive session, so Christian Krognes’ 7:49.578 remained the record. However, word spread like wildfire across social media, ruffling the feathers of many Nürburgring veterans. Maro Engel, the driver for the Mercedes-AMG One’s record lap, questioned if the Ferrari was running within legal Balance of Performance parameters. Verstappen snapped back to deny the allegation, but Engel wasn’t swayed. The Mercedes factory driver replied, “Would be cool to see Franz compete!”

This kind of rivalry in racing always gets me excited. The genuine animosity caused by the idea that the reigning F1 champion might be better than every single GT3 driver at their most cherished venue is the beef that you see when Michigan plays Ohio State. I can picture the GT3 aces in a hypothetical locker room hyping themselves up for this weekend. One of them shouting, “We can’t let this pampered, private jet-flying Formula 1 brat come into our house and take the top spot in our record book. We need to send him to Baku in economy.” For those unfamiliar with NLS, you can watch this weekend’s action for free on the Nürburgring’s YouTube channel.