Max Verstappen Targets Nurburgring 24 Hours Debut in Mercedes-AMG GT3
Max Verstappen will race in the nurburgring 24 hours this weekend for the first time in a real-life 24-hour event. The Red Bull Formula 1 driver enters one of the toughest endurance races in motorsport after six outings on the Nordschleife over the last 12 months.
Verstappen’s Mercedes-AMG GT3
He will drive a Red Bull-branded Mercedes-AMG GT3 car when the race begins at 2pm on Saturday. Verstappen became a four-time F1 world champion at the end of 2024, and this is the next step in a run that has already taken him outside Formula 1 competition.
In March, he said: "All the big endurance races I want to do, it's something that when I was a kid, my dad was doing them," and added: "I don't need to be only an F1 driver, I can also do other things. I've done this already for a while, achieved everything I want to achieve so that's why I want to explore other things and I don't want to do them when I'm 40 years old. Now is the perfect age to do it."
The Green Hell field
The 2025 event has 161 entered cars across 23 different car classes on the 15.769-mile circuit Verstappen once called "The Green Hell." His team is racing in the top class, which also includes Mercedes-AMG GT3, Porsche 911 GT3 R, BMW M4 GT3, Ferrari 296 GT3 and Lamborghini Huracan GT3 cars.
That mix puts Verstappen into traffic from the start, with the best passing spot on the 1.333-mile Dottinger Hohe straight, where cars can reach over 190mph. A GT3 car can last around an hour on a full tank of fuel, so the race will demand repeated pit stops as well as pace.
Nordschleife preparation
Verstappen has already spent six outings at the Nordschleife in the last 12 months preparing for this weekend. He also regularly competes in sim racing for Team Redline, and said: "It keeps me ready to go, because I'm spending a lot of time also then on the setup,"
Fans can watch the nurburgring 24 hours free live on the Sky Sports app. For Verstappen, the immediate test is simple: turn six preparatory visits into a clean first finish in a race that combines elite machinery, long stints and one of the most punishing circuits in racing.
