MAY 19, 2026

Glock says Germany must kneel before Verstappen

Former Formula 1 driver Timo Glock says Max Verstappen has single-handedly reignited interest in German motorsport following the Dutchman's sensational appearance at the sold-out 24 Hours Nurburgring.

Germany has not hosted a Formula 1 grand prix since 2020 and currently has only one driver on the grid - Nico Hulkenberg.

Glock says the decline has been dramatic.

Nobody spoke about this until Max Verstappen came, he said.

Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Nico Rosberg and anyone else grew up with an important contribution from German motorsport, but now we are no longer in favour of anything.

It's dramatic and a result of politics in Germany unfortunately.

We don't even have a German GP anymore.

The four-time world champion's participation in the Nurburgring 24 Hours created unprecedented demand, with the event selling out completely for the first time in its history.

Max is responsible for ensuring that everything is sold out here, Glock said.

It's the first time in the history of the 24-hour race that everything is sold out.

That's just beautiful. For me, this is really a sign for motorsport.

Glock also contrasted Verstappen's obsession with racing against the behaviour of most current Formula 1 drivers.

The best example was that all the other Formula 1 drivers in New York were in front of the premiere of the F1 film, while Max was driving a GT3 car in Spa, he said.

That shows how he experiences motorsport and how intensively he handles everything.

I don't know how he does this with 24 Formula 1 grands prix.

Verstappen's speed immediately stunned experienced GT drivers. He works so hard and is working on the details to make the car better, Glock said.

Then he steps in here and he's ridiculously fast. He knows how to read the traffic so well. It's really great.

Speaking to RTL, Glock said Germany effectively owes Verstappen a debt for restoring global attention to the Nurburgring and Nordschleife.

We all have to kneel before him here in Germany, he said.

See how many times the Nordschleife and the Nurburgring have been mentioned worldwide in recent months and how much attention the event is getting.

We haven't seen this in Germany for a long time.

After Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel, Max is the only one who really manages to bring German motorsport to the attention again, he said.

Ironically, Glock's own Nurburgring weekend ended badly after he lost his Nordschleife licence for speeding under yellow-flag conditions.

(GMM)