Max Verstappen is set to race at the Nuburgring this weekend as he prepares for his 24-hour GT race bow. The four-time Formula 1 world champion has already confirmed his intention to compete at the Nurburgring 24 Hours race in May and has wasted no time in terms of getting his preparations in motion.
The Red Bull driver has made it clear he is very unhappy with the new generation of F1 cars and has been looking to his racing plans outside of his main role for a source of joy. And he hopes to feel some of that in Germany this weekend as he’s set to take to the fearsome Nordschleife circuit.
Verstappen is set to compete in an NLS2 event this weekend to give him more real-world experience of racing on the Nordschleife ahead of the 24-hour race in a couple of months’ time. And it will also be his first chance to race the Mercedes-AMG GT3 on the circuit, having only previously raced there last year with a Ferrari car.
His team, Verstappen Racing, has made the calculated decision to switch to Mercedes, with the outfit now a factory-supported entrant. The GT3 is the car he plans to race in, alongside fellow drivers Lucas Auer, Dani Juncadella and Jules Gounon, as he targets the outright victory at the Nurburgring 24 Hours.
Verstappen has already tested the Mercedes car several times and did so again in a shakedown at the German track on Friday. Footage of the 28-year-old suiting up, with Red Bull branding plastered all over his race overalls and also the car, was posted on social media by the Verstappen.com account.
He is seen putting on his helmet before walking out into the pit lane through a sea of interested photographers and video camera operators, before getting into the car and driving out of the pit box. The shakedown, as well as this weekend’s racing action, will be carried out with the aim of tuning the car so that Verstappen and his team-mates will be able to get the most out of it by the time the main event comes around in May.
Still, a competitive animal as Verstappen is, he will want to drive as quickly as he can in the race on Saturday with the intention of winning if possible. His sim racing outfit, Team Redline, posted on social media to confirm that it plans to broadcast a watchalong of the race on streaming platform Twitch, from 10.30am UK time.
Once his fun in Germany is had, the focus will be back on F1 and next weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix. And he will hope his trip to Suzuka will be far more successful than his time in Shanghai last weekend, where he finished ninth in the Sprint before suffering a mechanical issue in the main Grand Prix which meant he left China without having scored a single point there.