Off the back of consecutive wins in Formula 1 (Monza and Baku), Max Verstappen brought his winning streak to the Nurburgring Endurance Series (NLS), getting off to a perfect start by claiming victory with teammate Chris Lulham on his debut.
Assessing his maiden win in a completely new series, the Dutch driver outlined: “During my first two stints, the car was amazing. After qualifying, I knew the car would be good on a dry track.
“Everything went well in terms of traffic, and we didn’t make any big mistakes. To win my debut race here is amazing.”
In his first-ever GT3 qualifying, Verstappen had already shown a solid pace, securing an impressive third place to start the ninth round of the series, a four-hour endurance race.
On Saturday, the four-time Formula 1 world champion was suited and booted for his debut, enjoying every moment of the weekend.
At the wheel of the Red Bull-liveried Ferrari 296 run by Verstappen.com Racing and Swiss team Emil Frey Racing, he and Lulham shared driving duties on Saturday.
Following a rolling start of the race, a clinical maneuver saw the 27-year-old taking the lead at Turn 1.
From there, Verstappen built a flawless first stint, which, despite facing heavy traffic (110 cars contested the race), allowed him to go full throttle, opening a safe window to make his pit stop for fuel and new tyres, and come back without losing the lead.
After 14 laps and nearly two hours, he finished his run over a minute ahead of the No. 6 Ford Mustang GT3 of Frank Stippler.
Then, his English teammate took over, making the most of his stint on board the Ferrari No. 31.
Throughout the second half of the race, Lulham battled yellow flags due to a series of crashes, and two ‘code 60’s were issued.
Nevertheless, he never lost the leadership; on the contrary, he stayed in control to cross the finish line first, 24 seconds ahead of the No. 9 Ford Mustang.
“The car was amazing,” the 22-year-old commented. “There was a lot of traffic and several accidents and ‘code 60’ situations, which didn’t make it easy for me. I’m so happy. I’ve got to thank Verstappen.com Racing and Emil Frey Racing for offering me this package to make such a strong NLS debut.”
September has been a month to remember for the Dutchman who delivered two driving masterpieces to capture the Italian and the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, reducing his deficit to the McLaren of F1 championship leader Oscar Piastri by 69 points.
A natural at the wheel, he found time between races to earn his DMSB Nordschleife Category A permit on board a Porsche GT4 Cayman at the Nordschleife during a four-hour ADAC ACAS Cup event, leading the way for today’s debut.
With his sight in the future, the reigning F1 champion shared: “We really want to race the 24-hour race, here at the Nordschleife. If that’s going to be next year, I don’t know yet. Of course, we need more experience, so hopefully we can enter a few more NLS races next year.”
Formula One action will resume next weekend in Singapore, a race staged under the lights at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
From next season, the Singapore Grand Prix will be one of six circuits to host the F1 Sprint, a format introduced at the pinnacle of motorsport in 2021 to promote wheel-to-wheel racing.