MAY 14, 2025

Was Verstappen's Nordschleife test too risky?

Red Bull's bosses may be unhappy that Max Verstappen put in a reportedly record-breaking effort around the fabled Nordschleife layout at the Nurburgring last week.

That's the view of former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher, after the quadruple world champion took part in a test session of the Nurburgring Langstrecken series (NLS) in a Ferrari 296 GT3 - with the pseudonym 'Franz Hermann' on the car.

Onboard footage from other cars showed the Verstappen.com Racing-branded car overtaking at high speed, amid reports the 27-year-old went on to set a best laptime of 7.47 - slightly faster than the official GT3 lap record.

Schumacher, however, thinks Verstappen went even faster than that.

I think he did a 7.35, the German told Sky Deutschland. That's a really top time. It's really outstanding.

Another former F1 driver, Timo Glock, added: What I heard is that the first or second lap was already at the top level. He will have spent a lot of time in the simulator, but it proves his talent once again and how well he can adjust to a car.

It's reported that Verstappen could take a sabbatical next year to observe F1's all-new regulations and perhaps even race in GT3 categories - with the Nordschleife outing working him towards the mandatory specific license.

I can't imagine that, Schumacher said.

"He has his own GT3 team already, but he also still has too much fun in Formula 1 to just leave. Look at how quickly he flew to Miami even though he had just become a father.

That proves that he still likes doing it.

What is clear, Schumacher thinks, is that Verstappen's F1 bosses will not be particularly happy about the Nordschleife outing. "Certainly if I was Max's team boss, I wouldn't find it that beneficial to drive on the Nordschleife.

I know many people don't like to hear it, but I find it incredibly dangerous, especially when you're driving at such a high speed. But of course we know that Max can drive better than most others.

(GMM)