EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsThis weekend, Max Verstappen will make his long-awaited racing debut at the legendary ADAC Nrburgring 24 Hours.The prospect of a four-time world champion using one of his free weekends to race in one of the most chaotic endurance races on the planet has captured the imagination of fans across motorsport.Why is Verstappen racing at the Nrburgring?Verstappen has long held an ambition to race at the Nrburgring 24 Hours -- an event he has followed for years from afar. Via his love of sim racing, he has completed "thousands" of laps of the circuit in the virtual world, but this year's edition of the real-world 24-hour race was the first he could realistically dovetail with his F1 commitments.In an interview with ESPN in March, he described the thrill of racing on the Nordschleife as "what real motorsport is like," adding that he is trying to seek "old-school, proper racing" and ultimately have a smile on his face when he jumps out of the car. It's easy to conflate Verstappen's Nrburgring side quest with his disillusionment around Formula 1's new regulations, but his first steps towards competing in the 24-hour race were taken last year before he drove his 2026 Red Bull.Like every driver on the packed grid this weekend -- and despite his status as a four-time world champion -- Verstappen had to earn a special licence (known as the DMSB Permit Nordschleife) to race on the 15.769-mile circuit. The process to get his permit included test days, classroom exams, and a race on the circuit in a lower GT4 category before he could take part in races in the top SP9 (or GT3) class.Verstappen's commitment of his own free time to the Nrburgring, while simultaneously competing in Formula 1, shows how much the race means to him."It just shows that my love, it's not only around Formula 1, I love racing, I love competing," he told ESPN when asked about his motivation. "Just going back to a bit more old-school, proper racing, that's what I'm trying to seek. And that's what I get from driving at the Nordschleife."What's so special about the Nordschleife?This weekend's race takes place on a 170-corner layout that includes the Grand Prix circuit (roughly 3 miles), combined with the famed Nordschleife (over 12.9 miles). The Nordschleife, meaning Northern Loop, was built in the 1920s as a public works initiative to reduce unemployment in the area and provide the ultimate proving ground for German car manufacturers.The project's lead architect, Gustav Eichler, had no experience in designing race circuits, which might go some way to explain the unique and outright dangerous layout he settled on. Following the contours of the Eifel mountains, often with drops to the left or right, the circuit completes a loop through the forests surrounding the ruins of Nrburg castle and nearby Adenau. The lay of the land results in 300m of elevation change from its highest point at Hohe Acht to the lowest point at Breidscheid bridge.Although safety measures, such as crash barriers, have been added over the years, the vast majority of the modern-day track follows the same layout as it did when a 3,000-strong workforce completed the project in 1927. In the buildup to World War II, the circuit was used by the Nazi party to showcase the strength of German engineering, including the legendary Silver Arrows cars built by Auto Union and Mercedes.Despite damage to the circuit during the war, racing resumed on the Nordschleife in 1949, and the circuit hosted its first round of the Formula 1 world championship in 1951. F1 continued to race at the circuit up until 1976, when Niki Lauda was severely injured in a fiery accident, and the Nordschleife was deemed too dangerous for the premier single-seater series.Sports cars have continued to race at the track, with the 24 Hours recognised as the annual halo event and a true celebration of the legendary track. Away from race weekends, the Nordschleife is open to anyone brave enough to take their own car on the track for a touristenfahrten (tourist lap). Fastest lap times of the Nrburgring are still proudly quoted by car manufacturers as proof of the sporting credentials of their latest models.Why is the Nrburgring 24 Hours such a big deal?The 24-hour race is the premier event of the Nordschleife's racing calendar, featuring a 150-strong grid of various touring cars (some of which are lightly modified production vehicles) and fully-fledged GT racing cars. The event was first held in 1970, at a time when F1 was still racing at the circuit, and attracts up to 300,000 fans to create a festival-like atmosphere.Verstappen is entered in the top class, known as SP9, which features GT3 cars of different marques that run to a Balance of Performance formula to ensure competitive racing. There are subclasses within the SP9 category for teams of fully professional drivers (P), Pro-Am (PA), and Amateur (Am), and there is also a fourth SP9 class, AT, for alternative fuels. Lower categories are also divided into their own subclasses for GT4 cars, touring cars and production cars. Between two and four drivers are entered per car, with stint times capped for safety reasons.The race will start at 3 p.m. local time on Saturday and run for 24 hours, with the winner of each class determined by the number of laps completed by 3 p.m. the next day. The race record, set in 2023 by the Frikadelli Racing Ferrari 296 GT3, is 162 laps or a total of 2554.58 miles.Is it dangerous?The nature of the Nordschleife means any lap of the circuit is inherently dangerous. High-speed corners combined with blind crests and minimal run-off areas leave a tiny margin for error that only gets smaller in wet conditions or when negotiating slower traffic."I'm aware that I can have a bad crash there, but I'm not afraid -- I like it, actually," Verstappen told ESPN earlier this year. "I really enjoy driving there, it gives me a smile on my face."Every time I jump out of the car, I'm happy. That's also what I'm after, to be honest, to have fun. I know it's a dangerous track, but I'm happy to take that risk."During this year's "Qualifier" races at the circuit, Juha Miettinen, a 66-year-old driving a BMW 325i, died in a tragic accident early in the first of the two races. The circuit is one of the few in the world with a Wikipedia page listing the fatalities of competitors at the track, with Miettinen's name the 70th death on a list dating back to 1928.Why has Red Bull given Verstappen permission to race?Verstappen says the conversation with his employer about racing at the circuit was relatively straightforward: "They saw how passionate I am about it, so it wasn't hard to convince them."His first steps towards the 24 Hours included a test day last year (on a free weekend between races in Miami and Imola) in which he entered the field under the pseudonym Franz Hermann. From there, he started taking part in four-hour Nrburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS) races under his real name, taking class victories in his first SP10 and SP9 races in 2025.Then-Red Bull Racing advisor Helmut Marko later revealed he backed Verstappen pursuing his Nrburgring ambitions precisely because his star driver had "lost a little bit of interest" in F1 following a slow start to the 2025 season. By the end of the year, in which Red Bull's performance bounced back, and Verstappen ended up two points shy of a fifth world title, Marko felt vindicated and said the net benefit of Verstappen's Nrburgring outings had resulted in a happier driver and as much as 0.2 seconds of lap time in F1. Red Bull has also supported all of Verstappen's entries by plastering its logo across the side of his car and on his race suits.Why is he racing a Mercedes?It may seem odd that Verstappen is racing in a car made by one of Red Bull's biggest F1 rivals. Multiple GT3 cars are eligible to take part in the SP9 category, including racing versions of GT cars from BMW, Ferrari, Audi, Lamborghini and Porsche, but Verstappen settled on the Mercedes AMG GT3."It's just about opportunities that come along at the end of the day," Verstappen said of his choice. "It's always good to be close to the manufacturer as well and I have a good relationship with them."We have the same mindset of how to approach things and I think that's why it just works really well. Everyone involved with Mercedes-AMG Motorsport as well, we spoke and I think we were quite quickly aligned on what we wanted to do."That's what I needed and what I wanted. That's why we made that call."The car is officially entered under the Verstappen Racing name, but it is being run by experienced Mercedes GT squad Winward Racing. Verstappen will share the Mercedes with his teammates Dani Juncadella, Jules Gounon and Lucas Auer.Who are Verstappen's teammates?All three of his teammates are GT racing specialists, who have been driving together this year under the Verstappen Racing name -- occasionally without Verstappen himself present.Juncadella, 35, may be a familiar name for long-time F1 fans as he was a test driver for both Williams and Force India in the mid-2010s after winning titles in Formula 3 in 2012. When his options in F1 dwindled, the Spaniard's career branched off into DTM and GT racing, including six appearances at the Nrburgring 24 Hours to date. He currently races for Genesis in the World Endurance Championship's Hypercar class.Gounon, 31, is a seasoned GT campaigner with various titles to his name. The Frenchman has taken part in five Nrburgring 24 Hours in the SP9 class and shared a podium finish with Juncadella at the event in 2022. He currently races in the Hypercar class for Alpine's WEC team.Auer, 31, also started out in single-seaters before making the move to GT racing. The Austrian won the GTD class at this year's Daytona 24 Hours with Winward Racing and is currently second in the DTM championship after one round.Can Verstappen Racing win?Victory is never guaranteed in motor racing, and even less so in a 24-hour race as wild as this one. It's not uncommon for cars to retire from the race due to technical issues or accidents, especially when negotiating slower-moving traffic through the night.Verstappen Racing has entered three four-hour NLS races at the Nordschleife this year and, despite not securing a victory, has shown race-winning pace. Verstappen, Juncadella and Gounon won NLS2 in March only to be stripped of victory after the race for using too many sets of tyres over qualifying and the race itself. Although the mistake by Winward Racing meant the result did not stand, the team was clearly the class of the field, with Verstappen's stints behind the wheel the most impressive of the three drivers sharing the car.Due to the cancellation of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Verstappen also entered NLS4 and NLS5, known collectively as the Qualifiers, but the first of the two races was called off following Miettinen's tragic accident. NLS5 went ahead the next day, but reliability issues meant Verstappen Racing was not in contention for victory.Speaking ahead of the qualifiers, Verstappen said his target was to win the 24 Hours but was not underestimating the competition."The level is high, it's super high," he said. "Of course, maybe some people don't know some of the drivers because they're not so much into GT racing, but there are a lot of really good, even older -- like very experienced -- drivers."He's also aware that the race's Balance of Performance formula -- enforced to ensure competitive racing despite the inherent strengths and weaknesses of GT cars from different manufacturers -- will be a key factor in success. Race officials aim to use BoP to level out performance over long stints -- through the addition of ballast, restrictor plates, fuel consumption limits, and aerodynamic restrictions -- but it runs the risk of becoming controversial if teams hold performance back in the run-up to the race to get a preferential BoP for the big day."At the end of the day, it will depend also a bit on your preparation and the final BoP," Verstappen said. "From other cars, some are of course still hiding quite a bit."Even so, if the Verstappen Racing car can stay clear of trouble, it is expected to be among the most competitive entrants in the field.
