For his first race in a Ferrari 296 GT3, Max Verstappen breaks a record and wins with an insolent lead!

Just a few days after his two Formula 1 victories, Max Verstappen took a break that was as unlikely as it was spectacular: a return to the fearsome Nordschleife, at the wheel of a Ferrari 296 GT3. And to his first official entry in the GT3 categoryThe Dutchman transformed the test with a mixture of talent, determination... and a touch of insolence.

Record broken even before the race

Right from Friday's practice session, the tone was set. Verstappen, who had already clocked a 7'48 a few months earlier under the pseudonym "Franz Hermann", improved his own time by three seconds, with an estimated lap of 7'45. Unofficial, in the absence of official timing, but enough to make the paddock tremble: never before had a GT3 run so fast on the Nordschleife.

Trap qualification... before the demonstration

The following morning, under a veil of rain and fog, Verstappen and his team-mate Chris Lulham (Verstappen.com Racing / Emil Frey Racing) set the third fastest time in qualifying, just a few tenths off pole which had been lost in traffic. Far from being discouraged, the four-time F1 world champion took the start... and immediately made his mark.

From the very first corner, he took command. From there, the scenario turned into a demonstration. Verstappen drove two stints in a row, keeping the Ferrari n°31 on an unstoppable pace. By the end of the two-hour race, his lead had ballooned to over a minute over Frank Stippler's Ford Mustang, one of the Nürburgring's greatest specialists.

An insolent lead

With a lead of 1 minute and 10 seconds over the runner-up, Verstappen had already "folded" the race by handing over to team-mate Chris Lulham. Despite a few slowdowns due to yellow flags and neutralization zones, the Ferrari maintained a comfortable margin. After four hours and 28 laps, the Verstappen-Lulham duo crossed the line more than 20 seconds ahead, with the second Mustang even more than a minute behind.

Next stop, the 24 Hours of Nürburgring?

Above and beyond the result, it's the signal sent out that is striking. Verstappen, four-time F1 world champion, is no longer content to dominate Grand Prix circuits: he is also winning on the home turf of endurance specialists, with disarming ease. A few days ago, he declared that "racing in categories other than F1 is my passion", and he is already preparing his next challenge: the Nürburgring 24 Hours in 2026, a deadline made possible by a more compatible F1 calendar.