What Max Verstappen's Nurburgring adventure tells us about his racing future

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what-max-verstappen's-nurburgring-adventure-tells-us-about-his-racing-future — What Max Verstappen's Nurburgring adventure tells us about his racing future

Max Verstappen reckons it can be ‘dangerous’ to only focus on Formula 1 after the four-time world champion’s endurance racing adventure at the Nordschleife.

Last weekend Verstappen raced a Porsche Cayman 718 GT4 CS in the four-hour ADAC ACAS Cup to obtain a GT3 licence for the ‘Green Hell’ – a mission that proved successful as he obtained the permit via committee decision.

And it should come as no surprise that the Dutchman later confirmed his “dream” to race the Nurburgring 24 Hours as Verstappen’s love for endurance racing has long been known.

He recently shocked fans by completing a Nurburgring test under the ‘Franz Hermann’ pseudonym, while Verstappen also owns a GT team and he has refused to commit his future to F1 beyond 2028.

That is the year his current Red Bull contract expires and he has previously revealed that once his passion for the championship wanes, he shall depart. Last year after making his 200th grand prix start, for example, he said he’s in the second half of his career.

“It all depends on your mindset as a driver, because if your mindset is set on Formula 1 and you do not want to change that perception, then you’re talking to a wall,” said Verstappen ahead of this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

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“Sometimes with some of the drivers that I’m close to, they all dream of Formula 1. I always advise that keep the options open just in case it doesn’t work out, because not everyone always gets the opportunity, even though you might be good enough.

“I also do think that with endurance racing, there are a lot of opportunities to have a good career. Just to stare blindly on Formula 1 can be a danger.”

It speaks volumes about where he might see his future in racing. Verstappen has said he is not interested in racing until his 40s, something fellow world champions Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso have done, but it doesn’t mean he will stop altogether.

This separates him from a lot of the world champions of the current century, who have restricted themselves to just F1 rather than the early days of grand prix racing, where the likes of Stirling Moss and Juan Manuel Fangio also contested sportscar events.

So it’s probably no surprise that Verstappen holds huge admiration for one of the few recent world champions to have shown interest in other types of racing: Alonso. The Spaniard is a two-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner, plus has contested the Daytona 24 Hours, Indianapolis 500 and even the Dakar Rally.

“What he has done before, like going into endurance, even doing Dakar for example, it’s pretty insane,” said Verstappen in Baku.

#310 Toyota Gazoo Racing: Fernando Alonso, Marc Coma

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“It just shows that he’s also just passionate about racing, it doesn’t matter if it’s a Formula 1 car or not.”

Verstappen clearly values the passion of racing above all else. He’s already achieved his dream of becoming world champion, he has enough money in the bank and is starting to build a family away from the track as partner Kelly Piquet recently gave birth.

These are examples of various factors that could drive Verstappen away from F1 at the end of 2028. Sportscar racing, meanwhile, would suit his lifestyle given the 2025 World Endurance Championship campaign, for example, has just eight races.

But staying in single-seaters after F1 is seemingly not going to happen, as he wrote off any chance of attempting the Triple Crown – achieved by winning the Monaco GP, the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Indianapolis 500.

“Le Mans, yes, but I’m not interested in the triple crown. I enjoy watching IndyCar. I do not need to drive it myself,” he said.