Max Verstappen spent a spare weekend away from Formula 1 doing something most world champions would never attempt. He showed up at the Nurburgring 24 Hours, one of motorsport’s most brutal races, and nearly won it.
Verstappen’s No. 3 Mercedes-AMG GT3, shared with Jules Gounon, Daniel Juncadella, and Lucas Auer, dominated large stretches of the race. The team led 85 laps in total before a driveshaft failure with just three hours left, ended their shot at victory. The result was heartbreaking, but what Verstappen did on track left his F1 peers genuinely impressed.
George Russell
âGeorge Russell
Russell kept it simple and honest. He said watching Verstappen was “pretty cool to see,” and acknowledged that endurance races like the Nurburgring and Bathurst are just brutal. He also noted the difference in their situations.
“Obviously, we’re also pursuing to win a World Championship, but obviously, he’s in a luxurious position to do what he enjoys, and that’s great for him. He did a great job.”
Lance Stroll
Stroll caught some highlights and that was enough. The moves Verstappen was pulling in the middle of the night, the aggression, the pace, it all stood out. He also opened up about his own relationship with GT3 racing during breaks in the F1 calendar.
“He’s so talented and so fast and so brave. I saw he was making some crazy moves in the middle of the night and was super quick behind the wheel whenever he was behind the wheel. So yeah, it’s fun. When we have breaks, you know, I have a GT3 car for track days and stuff, just for fun. And when we had those six weeks off, I got some friends together, put the car in the race, and we got out there and had some fun. So, it’s always cool driving different things. He was good. It was fun to watch.”
Pierre Gasly
Gasly was the most open about wanting to do the race himself one day. He said it was hard not to follow along, and while he felt Verstappen was unlucky with the result, the performance itself was no surprise.
“I found it pretty cool. I respect the performance, the commitment. I’d love to do the race as well and actually compete in the same way. I thought he was very unlucky. Obviously just showed the level at which he is at the moment, and I had no surprise to see him very competitive in that category and in that field.”
Carlos Sainz
GettyRebecca Donaldson and Carlos Sainz.
Sainz missed the race entirely, but the noise around it was hard to ignore. From what he picked up through media and word of mouth, the feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and none of it surprised him.
“I couldn’t watch the race, but the only thing that I’ve seen is a lot of media around it, and a lot of positive feedback from the race itself. I heard that Max was pretty handy too, but I was expecting that. Only positive news and feedback videos for me, but I couldn’t watch the race.”
Lewis Hamilton
GettyFerrari’s British driver Lewis Hamilton
Hamilton followed along through clips rather than watching live. He did not rule out doing something like it one day, but made clear where his priorities would lie if he ever went down that road.
“I mean, the racing looks fantastic. But I don’t know. Could do, don’t need to. I followed it a little but actually. It was cool to see. I saw some small clips rather than actually following it live. But is it something that I see myself [doing]? Probably, I would give priority to Le Mans. But then, why not try the Nurburgring one day?”
Fernando Alonso
Alonso, who has won Le Mans twice and knows endurance racing better than anyone on the current grid, put the whole thing in perspective. He spoke about what makes 24-hour races uniquely difficult, and why even the best drivers can come up short.
“Endurance racing has some magic in these 24-hour races. You have this incredible traffic management and skill that you need to have. You need to share the car and the setup with other drivers, you need to rely on them, you need to play as a team in general, and then, on top of that, you need to have luck, which is what Max missed last time. Winning 24-hour races is not the most straightforward thing. It doesn’t depend only on you.”
Verstappen did not win, but his presence alone drew a record crowd of 352,000 to the Eifel region, and he has already said he wants to return. The grid has noticed, and so has everyone else.
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