Max Verstappen: Why the Red Bull F1 driver is racing in the Nurburgring 24 Hours this weekend as he continues his exploits outside of Formula 1 | F1 News & more related news here

Max Verstappen will take on the Nurburgring 24 Hours this weekend in a Red Bull-branded Mercedes-AMG GT3 car as he continues his racing exploits outside of Formula 1.

Verstappen has made six outings on the Nordschleife in the last 12 months to prepare for the iconic endurance race which starts at 2pm on Saturday and can be watched free live on sky sports application.

Since becoming a four-time F1 world champion at the end of 2024, Verstappen has intensified his quest to conquer some of motorsport’s biggest events.

It has been clear, even since his early days in F1, after debuting as a 17-year-old in 2015, that he wants to compete in other motorsport categories at an age where he is still fast and competitive.

“All the big endurance races I want to do, they’re something that when I was a kid, my dad did them,” Verstappen said in March earlier this year.

“I don’t need to just be an F1 driver, I can do other things too. I’ve already done this for a while, I’ve achieved everything I want to achieve, so I want to explore other things and I don’t want to do them when I’m 40. Now is the perfect age to do it.”

What to expect from the Nürburgring 24 Hours

The Nurburgring 24 Hours is one of the most important endurance races in the world. This year, 161 cars have signed up to drive around the 15.769-mile circuit that the three-time F1 world champion once called “The Green Hell.”

It is unforgiving and is considered by many to be the toughest race track in the world, where F1 used to race until 1976 when Niki Lauda had a fiery accident that left him seriously injured.

There are 23 different car classes in the Nurburgring 24 Hours and Verstappen’s team competes in the top class, which features the fastest cars, including several Mercedes-AMG GT3, Porsche 911 GT3 R, BMW M4 GT3, Ferrari 296 GT3 and Lamborghini Huracan GT3.

For top-class drivers, making their way through slower cars from other classes is an important part of the race, because accidents can easily occur when trying to overtake on the narrow Nordschleife circuit. At night, this only gets more difficult…

The best place to overtake is on the 1,333-mile Dottinger Hohe Highway. straight where cars reach more than 300 km/h. Verstappen had a big battle with Christopher Haase in one of the NLS races earlier this year on this part of the track as they both tried to move each other.

During pit stops, there could be a driver change as the team changes tires and adds fuel to the car. Barring problems, a GT3 car can last about an hour with a full tank of fuel.

Verstappen’s exploits outside of F1

Verstappen lives and breathes racing.

He regularly competes in sim racing for Team Redline, a European professional sim racing team, and is one of the best sim racers in the world.

“This keeps me ready to go, because I also spend a lot of time setting up,” he said.

“I’m not racing a Formula 1 car in the simulator, but it’s like GT cars, so it’s a different driving technique as well.

“I keep testing myself, and especially these sim drivers… they are so fast! It’s very interesting to watch them drive because they have no real experience with a car but somehow when you look at how they brake, how they control, it’s the way it should be.”

Verstappen was part of the team that won the 2024 Nurburgring 24 Hours on the same weekend as the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola. He may have slept less than the other F1 drivers, but that didn’t stop him from holding off Lando Norris to take an important victory.

“It’s basically a racing machine,” former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said at the time.

“It’s pretty common for him to be trying different settings at night and this kind of thing. So it’s not unusual for him to do that.”

What about Verstappen’s future outside of F1?

Verstappen has also tested prototype cars, the category from which the overall winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans comes, and is looking forward to competing in the famous endurance race in the future.

Perhaps that could happen in the coming years, as Ford will enter the top class of the World Endurance Championship and compete at Le Mans from 2027.

Ford is a technical partner of Red Bull and its F1 power unit, so you can see how that link could lead to a Le Mans exit for Verstappen.

Verstappen has also mentioned other endurance races in the past, such as the Daytona 24 Hours in Florida and the Spa 24 Hours in Belgium, which is part of the reason there has been talk of the Dutchman taking a sabbatical from F1.

After a disappointing start to the current F1 season and frustration with new regulations, Verstappen suggested in late March that he was considering his future in the sport.

F1 has since made adjustments to the power unit regulations and will make further changes from next year that should rectify concerns from Verstappen and other drivers about the racing and driving style the new engines have created.

Verstappen has a contract with Red Bull until the end of 2028, although Sky Sports News He understands that there are performance clauses that would allow him to leave earlier.

Could the 28-year-old step away from F1 completely and spend a year or two competing in other motorsport events before returning to F1? It must have crossed your mind…

Formula 1 now heads to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix and another Sprint weekend. Watch it live on Sky Sports F1 from May 22-24. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime