Four time world champion F1 driver Max Verstappen who drives for Oracle Red Bull will make his racing debut at ADAC Nürburgring 24 hours. The race will take place from Thursday, May 14 to the race start on Saturday, May 16. The Dutchman’s appearance has led to a sellout of the event for the first time.
Last year, Verstappen had to secure his special licence, known as DMSB Permit Nordschleife in Germany in the GT3 race and won it in a Ferrari 296 entered by Emil Frey Racing, to race on the 15.769 mile circuit.
The four time world champion is unhappy about F1’s new regulations; he commented, “If someone likes this, then you really don’t know what racing is like, It’s not fun at all. It’s playing Mario Kart, This is not racing. For me, it’s just a joke” and he also called the F1 cars “anti-racing”. The Red Bull driver openly mentioned quitting F1 at the end of the current season at Japanese Grand Prix; besides Verstappen has a deep desire to race at the Nürburgring 24 hours. The Dutchman described his previous experiences at the Nürburgring reminded him of pure racing and he stepped out of the car feeling happy.
28 years old Max is racing in Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo. He will share the Mercedes with his teammates Dani Juncadella, Jules Gounon and Lucas Auer. Red Bull racing advisor Helmut Marko revealed he encouraged Max to pursue his Nürburgring racing dream because he lost a little bit of interest in F1 due to a slow start to the 2025 season. Verstappen is racing in one of Red Bull’s biggest F1 rivals Mercedes.
Many GT3 cars are eligible for racing in SP9 category; racing versions of GT cars from Porsche, Audi, BMW, Lamborghini, Ferrari but the four time world champion chose Mercedes AMG GT3. Though He made his debut in the GT3 race last year at the Nürburgring Endurance Series in Germany and won it in a Ferrari 296 which was entered by Emil Frey Racing. Verstappen said he has a good relationship with the Mercedes manufacturer and they have the same mindset, that’s why they made the call.
Nürburgring 24 Hours schedule
Thursday, May 14
Qualifying 1: 1:15pm CET/BST, 5:45pm IST, 10:15pm AEST
Qualifying 2: 8pm CET/BST, 12:30am IST (Friday), 5am AEST (Friday)
Friday, May 15
Top Qualifying 1: 10:15 AM CET/BST, 2:45 PM IST, 7:15 PM AEST
Top Qualifying 2: 11:05 AM CET/BST, 3:45 PM IST, 8:15 PM AEST
Qualifying 3: 12 PM CET/BST, 3:30 PM IST, 9 PM AEST
Top Qualifying 3: 13:35 PM CET/BST, 6:05 PM IST, 9:35 AM AEST
Saturday, May 16
Warm-up: 10 AM CET/BST
Starting Grid: 12:45 PM CET/BST
Open Grid: 1:10 PM CET/BST
Formation Lap: 2:20 PM CET/BST, 6.50 PM IST, 11:20 PM AEST
Race Start: 3 PM CET/BST, 7:30 PM IST, 12:00 AM AEST(Sunday)
Race Finish: 3 PM CET/BST, 7:30 PM IST, 12:00 AM AEST(Monday)
The official Nürburgring and Red Bull TV YouTube channels will be covering the weekend live for free.
Previous Winners:
2020: Rowe Racing, BMW M6 GT3
2021: Manthey Racing, Porsche 911 GT3R
2022: Audi Sport Team Phoenix, Audi R8 LMS Evo ll
2023: Frikadelli Racing Team, Ferrari 296 GT3
2024: Scherer Sport PHX, Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo ll
2025: ROWE Racing, BMW M Motorsport.
The Nürburgring event was first held in 1970. The circuit used to host F1 races, but due to safety concerns and dangerous track layout, F1 races at the Nürburgring in recent years were held on the Grand Prix layout. The Nordschleife is where Niki Lauda had his infamous critical crash at the 1976 German Grand Prix.
The circuit stood in during the 2020 pandemic-shortened season as the Eifel Grand Prix. The Nordschleife circuit’s project lead architect, Gustav Eichler didn’t have any experience in designing race circuits. That’s the reason the circuit has a unique and dangerous layout. Every lap of the circuit is inherently dangerous, the track features fast, blind corners and almost no roadside space to save a sliding car, leaving drivers with zero room for mistakes. This tiny safety margin disappears completely when the track is wet or crowded with slower traffic.
66 year old Juha Miettinen died in a tragic accident during this year’s “Qualifier” while driving a BMW 325i. Juha Miettinen became the 70th competitor fatality on a Wikipedia list documenting deaths at the track since 1928.
Follow Fieldvision on Youtube ,Twitter , Facebook Instagram and Whatsapp Channel for more updates.
Leave a Reply