This weekend the four-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen again indulged his passion for GT racing and fulfilled a personal dream by competing for the first time in Germany’s iconic 24 Hour race on the full Nürburgring circuit, which comprises the modern Grand Prix layout plus the legendary Nordschleife track. With 161 cars starting, the aim was to complete as many laps as possible in 24 hours of continuous racing, and, after some absolutely stellar stints from Verstappen, he and his three teammates, Jules Gounon, Daniel Juncadella and Lucas Auer, looked set to emerge victorious from this classic endurance encounter. However, a late right rear driveshaft failure for their Mercedes-AMG GT3 car, with just three hours remaining, instantly ended any such hopes. The incident left the sister Winward-run GT3 Mercedes, driven by Maro Engel, Luca Stolz, Fabian Schiller and Maxime Martin, to inherit the overall win.

Competing under the Verstappen.com Racing banner, the Verstappen quartet had shared a Red Bull-liveried car, with the event getting underway at 15.00 local time on Saturday in front of a sell-out crowd, enhanced massively by Verstappen’s presence. Livestreaming of the race also added to the sheer number of those keeping up-to-date with the action all around the world, and free 24-hour coverage was readily available for those with sufficient stamina! The massive entry list covered 20 differing classes, and thus it was a key test of speed, reliability and stamina but also an ability to stay out of trouble ontrack as the fastest GT3 cars had to repeatedly pass much slower cars both day and night.

It’s very rare these days for an active Formula 1 driver to compete on the Nordschleife, but many of Verstappen’s current fellow F1 rivals, including Lando Norris, George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, formed their fellowship of the Ring group to follow his exploits, and they were truly envious of his participation on this highly challenging track, which Sir Jackie Stewart christened back in his racing days as “die grüne Hölle” (the green hell) due to the ever-present real danger.

Over 200 driver fatalities have occurred on the Nordschleife since it opened back in 1927, including those during official races and those during public ontrack sessions, and it was the location of Niki Lauda’s dreadful fiery accident during the German Grand Prix in 1976. However, it still constantly lures so many professional and amateur drivers as a unique challenge, and many car manufacturers use the track to test and fine-tune new models. Norris had a chance to drive around the Nordschleife in a McLaren 750S road car last month while he was there to test new Pirelli F1 tyres on the adjoining Grand Prix track. Afterwards, he he simply described the experience as “the most fun I’ve had all year!”



I’ve been fortunate over the years to have driven round the 13 mile-long Nordschleife circuit several times (if hardly at 24-hour pace!) and also the 3.2 mile-long Grand Prix track, and it’s always truly memorable. The Nordschleife features 73 corners, with significant elevation changes, and simply remembering what comes next is something of a task in itself until you’ve driven plenty of laps for real or in a simulator.

Formula 1 driver contracts so often preclude any potentially dangerous non-F1 sporting activities due to the risk of injury to teams’ star assets, but such is Verstappen’s standing with Red Bull that the outfit has agreed to his ongoing extracurricular GT racing exploits. It’s refreshing to see a driver who simply loves to compete in differing racing categories for the sheer pleasure of doing so and not just for the fame, glamour and financial rewards of Formula 1.

His participation brought back memories of years gone by, when F1 drivers such as Stewart, Graham Hill and Jimmy Clark were allowed to regularly compete in racing disciplines below motorsport’s global top table, both for the fun of it all and also to earn additional income when Formula 1 was far less lucrative than now, even for the best racers in the world.

28-year-old Verstappen will, of course, return to his F1 racing duties with Red Bull in Montreal next weekend as the Canadian Grand Prix and the related Sprint race take centre stage on the world motorsport scene. However, further GT outings for the Dutch racer will surely follow, and very much so once his Formula 1 career has ended, with him being adamant that he has absolutely no intention of following Fernando Alonso's and Lewis Hamilton’s example by remaining in F1 into their 40s.