A guide to Verstappen's GT3 debut at the Nürburgring

Credit: Benjamin Crundwell

Secret tests done, permit secured, Max Verstappen is ready to make his GT3 race debut on the feared Nürburgring Nordschleife. Everybody knows everything about the Formula One champion, but few people know so much about the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Series (NLS), so here is everything you need to know ahead of Verstappen’s debut this weekend. 

The NLS is a 10 race series, but each event takes place at the Nürburgring. The Nürburgring has two race tracks; the GP track is an FIA Grade 1 circuit built in 1984 (this layout was used during the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix), but the infamous Nordschleife (German for North Loop) is a 12.944 mile (20.832 km) section of the track built in 1927. 

The race this weekend will take place on the 24h layout, which is a combination of the GP track and Nordschleife. The Nürburgring is one of the planet's most feared destinations, earning the nickname “The Green Hell” from Jackie Stewart. The track has claimed the lives of over 70 competitors, not including lives lost of members of the public who partake in the Touristenfahrten. 

While the death rates are lower than they were in the 20th century, it is unfortunately still not uncommon for drivers to suffer fatal crashes, in 2023 two drivers were killed in an accident while testing in a Porsche 911 Carrera S. 

Although the Nürburgring 24h is officially part of the Intercontinental GT Challenge, the NLS is used mostly by teams as testing for the 24 hour race. It is also the easiest way for cars and drivers to rack up the hours to qualify for the race. These two reasons explain why Verstappen has chosen the Nürburgring to debut in a GT3. Verstappen strives to compete in the Nürburgring 24h race as soon as 2026. 

The NLS has much larger grids than any other motorracing series on the planet. 110 cars are on the entry list for this weekend, split across 20 different classes. 

For those unfamiliar with multi-class racing, it is effectively multiple races happening on one track at the same time. There is a larger focus on the fastest class, SP9 (built entirely of GT3 cars, including Verstappen’s Ferrari 296 GT3), however the slower classes do not owe the quicker ones right of way. 

Despite the lack of blue flag rules, there are certain manners in which traffic should be negotiated. Slow cars should use their indicators when they are allowing a faster car to pass them, however the faster car is always responsible for leaving fair space while passing competitors from other classes. 

The added element of varied pace traffic can prove to change the outcome of races. This happened recently in the 24 hour race this year when Kévin Estre picked up a 100 second penalty for hitting a slower car, and putting it on its roof. Across the line Estre (and his Manthey team) had to sacrifice victory as they did not have a 100 second gap to the second placed car. 

Verstappen has never raced in real life with traffic like he will see on the Nordschleife this weekend, however his sim-racing experience will pay him dividends as he will have encountered it in the virtual world many times before. 

While there are too many classes to learn, a good guide is that classes starting with SP include purpose built race cars, while classes starting with V are production cars. VT are all turbocharged and Cup Classes are all one-make. Finally TCR are touring cars, AT is alternate fuels (for example biofuels) and Gruppe H is for historic cars. 

Credit: Luna Maas

The race will last four hours, but Verstappen will only drive half of this as he will share the driving with teammate Chris Lulham. Despite being 22, Lulham is only in his second full year of racing, as he was previously a sim racer with Team Redline. 

Having competed in various karting championships between 2010 and 2018, and completing a one off performance in the British F4 in 2019. His lack of experience in the series was quickly overcome, as Lulham finished in fifth place in race three. 

In 2024 Lulham entered the Radical Cup UK, winning 16 of the 18 races in a show of utter dominance. His talent didn’t go unnoticed, Verstappen gave him a drive in the GTWC EU (GT World Challenge EU). 

Despite being only Gold rated, Lulham and his teammate - Thierry Vermeulen - have had an outstanding breakthrough season. In the previous round at Valencia, the team won their first race, only to have it taken away from them due to a yellow flag infringement. 

Verstappen and Lulham are no strangers to each other, having raced together online many a time, and shared the Ferrari earlier in May when the two did their first test on the Nürburgring. Two weeks ago they also shared a Porsche Cayman GT4 CS, to earn their licenses to race a GT3 car on the Nordschleife.  

The two ‘sim racers’ will be driving the Verstappen dot com liveried Emil Frey Ferrari 296 GT3 this weekend. 

Unlike Formula One, GT3 cars tend to have a larger performance window due to distinctive individual features on each car. For example, the Ferrari is powered by a turbocharged 3.0L V6 engine, however the Ford Mustang has a naturally aspirated 5.4L V8 and consequently weighs roughly 50kg more than its Italian competitor.

To try to prevent one car from being much faster than the others, Balance of Performance (BoP) is used. This is a process in which certain cars have their power reduced or get weight added to their car. Regardless, the cars' performances are never equal so the larger cars typically have an advantage on the long straights such as the Döttinger Höhe while the smaller cars tend to be faster in more technical sections. 

Credit: Benjamin Crundwell

Unfortunately because the NLS is used mainly as preparation for the Nürburgring 24h race, in the second half of the year the grid tends to quiet down. The often dominant Falken Motorsport Porsches aren’t racing for the first time this year, taking away a few of the most competitive drivers. 

Despite this, the No.54 Dinamic GT Porsche driven by Bastian Buus and Joel Sturm is expected to cause disruption at the front, as well as Frank Stippler and Vincent Kolb’s No.6 Ford Mustang. Stippler, as a master of the ring, is likely to be Verstappen’s biggest challenge and there is a good chance they will be on track together as Stippler will also be driving the No.8 Audi, so will be in the car for most of the four hour race. 

The other major entry is Jann Mardenborough in the No.9 Ford. Although his pace may not be as competitive as some of the other GT3 drivers, his name on the entry list is significant as it is the first time he has raced (apart from renewing his GT3 permit earlier this year) on the Nordschleife since his tragic incident in 2015. 

During the incident Mardenborough’s Nissan GT-R took off the ground at Flugplatz, clearing the catch fence and killing one spectator. It has since been featured in the movie about Mardenborough, ‘Gran Turismo’. 

Endurance racing views are currently on the rise and Verstappen’s involvement will only do good for the sport. While a lot of fans will be watching to see how an F1 driver compares in a sportscar, we hope many will be so captivated by the nail biting action, that they will continue to follow the sport in the future. 

The ninth round of the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie will take place at 12:00 local time (11:00 BST) this Saturday and can be streamed for free on YouTube. Qualifying will take place earlier in the morning, and live timing can be found on the Nürburgring website, while the stream of the session will feature only German commentary.