Max Verstappen triumphs at the Ring
There Formula 1 for the moment it doesn’t give him any particular stimuli and Max Verstappen the fun went looking for it at Nurburgring Nordschleife. Fun behind the wheel Mercedes-AMG GT3 of his team, of course, but also small, great joys: after obtaining an amazing pole position, even in the race the four-time F1 world champion misses the mark thus achieving his second victory (out of two participations in the GT3 category) on the legendary Green Inferno.
A memorable show
A large success judging by the gaps but certainly not trivial. Indeed, for the entire first hour of the race, just when Max was at the wheel of the Mercedes number #3 of the Verstappen.com Racing team, the fans were able to witness a exciting battle between the Dutch ace and the Audi number 16 driven by Christopher Haase: the Red Bull driver seemed to have significantly more in the guided parts of the circuit, but his German rival was able to benefit from a great top speed which allowed him to escape on the straight.
The result? A memorable fight, with Haase taking first position at the end of the first lap of the race and maintaining it almost until the end of the first stint, with a four-time F1 world champion glued to the bumper, touching lapped drivers from other categories on the most dangerous track in the world. “Almost” because one of the decisive and most spectacular moments was precisely the overtaking that Verstappen achieved a few moments before entering the pit lane for the first tire change when, taking advantage of the presence of a lapped driver who forced Haase to brake, he regained the lead after a long wheel-to-wheel battle (video below).
Many professionals against Max Verstappen
Max’s two very fast companions did the rest, with Daniel Juncadella who then definitively got rid of the Audi #16 that passed into the hands of Nico Hantkeand with Jules Gounon who fought closely with BMW number 99 in the third hour Jordan Pepper And Dan Harper. Thus, for the Dutchman the final stint was a dance among the lapped, with a safety advantage that at the finish line rose to over a minute over the BMW #99 and the Porsche #44, on the second and third step of the podium respectively. A victory this time even more significant because it was obtained against several professional driverspresent in significantly greater numbers than when, in 2025, the Dutchman won with the Ferrari 296 GT3: in addition to the “Verstappen squadron” there were in fact several official GT drivers from Audi, BMW (including the Italian-Swiss Raffaele Marciello, stopped by technical problems), Lamborghini and Porsche.
Objective 24 Hours of the Nurburgring Nordschleife
In short, a dress rehearsal for the main event of the NLS season, the series which organizes races with hundreds of participants throughout the year on the legendary Nurburgring Nordschleife track, and which at this point Max Verstappen can put in his sights: the 24 Hours scheduled for the weekend of May 17thwhere the four-time F1 world champion will still compete in Mercedes, with the same crew as today but with the addition of Lucas Auer.
