The 27-year-old Verstappen won on his GT3 debut at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife, taking the lead immediately in a Ferrari 296 GT3 and never giving it up. He qualified third earlier in the day on a drying track and raced for the Emil Frey Racing team alongside Briton Chris Lulham.
The Limburger was allowed to start the race, built a substantial lead after an early overtaking move and handed the car to Lulham halfway through. Lulham crossed the line as the winner.
How the race unfolded
Verstappen grabbed the lead off the line and extended his advantage through the opening stints. By the time he handed the Ferrari to Lulham, he had opened a margin of around 1 minute and 10 seconds over rivals. Lulham maintained that advantage to take the victory for Emil Frey Racing.
The Nürburgring Langstrecke-Serie is a championship run entirely on the Nordschleife, the 20-plus kilometre circuit nicknamed the “Green Hell.” The series mixes amateur and professional teams and typically fields about 110 cars on track at once.
Verstappen has said he wants to race outside Formula 1, and this appearance followed a Nordschleife test day earlier in the year when he used the pseudonym Franz Hermann and improved the lap record for that type of car. Two weeks ago at NLS7 he raced at the Nürburgring in a downsized GT4 car to obtain his GT3 racing license.
The Nordschleife is known for its many corners, elevation changes and narrow sections. Verstappen already knew the circuit from sim racing and used this NLS outing as practical experience with traffic, pit stops and changing conditions—skills he needs for his stated objective of contesting the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, the endurance event that draws about half a million spectators each year.
His arrival at the Nürburgring drew thousands of motorsport fans from Germany and the Netherlands; Verstappen was accompanied by several bodyguards and surrounded by large crowds just before the start. With the Singapore Grand Prix next week, he will have been racing across six consecutive weekends: GP Netherlands, GP Italy, NLS7, GP Azerbaijan, NLS9 and GP Singapore.
