Haas driver Oliver Bearman was also a member of the NLS series’ growing online audience as Verstappen qualified for the 24 Hours, and said he “will definitely be tuning in and watching it”, while Mercedes frontrunner George Russell is another F1 driver with designs on competing at the Ring at some point in the future. But his request to team boss Toto Wolff to run an F1 car around there, which was last done by Sebastian Vettel in a Red Bull in 2023, has yet to be granted.
“I did watch Max’s race in the Nordschleife,” Russell said. “I’d love to do it, without a doubt. I have driven it before; I’ve driven hundreds of laps on the sim around the Nordschleife. I don’t know when the day will be.
“I did once try having a conversation with Toto about putting the F1 car around there and breaking the all-time lap record. Right now, I’m focused on trying to win a F1 world championship and hopefully, when I’ve got four under my belt, I’ll go and race the Nordschleife and during my F1 season too…”
#3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing, Mercedes AMG GT3 EVO: Max Verstappen, Daniel Juncadella, Jules Gounon
Of all active F1 drivers, perhaps Russell’s team-mate and current championship leader Kimi Antonelli seems the closest to actually making it there. Antonelli previously tested and raced a Mercedes GT3 through his father Marco, who runs a successful GT team in Italy, and as a 16-year-old Antonelli even took an Italian GT sprint win on his debut. And rather than just hoping to head to the Ring at some point in the future, Antonelli hinted at already plotting a path to obtaining a Nordschleife A-permit.
“I would love to do an endurance race with Max together,” Antonelli said earlier this year. “I think that would be pretty awesome. It’s cool because we both have passion for GTs. On my side it came from my dad with the GT team. Occasionally, I go and test when I can.
“I think it would be a really cool pairing and a really cool experience, but it’s something that I’ve been considering as well. I’ve already asked for a test at the Nordschleife, for example, because it’s a track that I love, and I would love to be able to try it in the real world as well.”
Driving under the Verstappen.com Racing banner, Verstappen will share the Winward-run Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Jules Gounon, Daniel Juncadella and Lucas Auer. The race gets under way on Saturday at 3pm, with livestreams available on YouTube.
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