Four-time Formula One world champion Max Verstappen has announced he will race a Mercedes… in this year’s Nürburgring 24hr race.
Fresh from being whupped over the weekend by the Mercedes-AMG F1 team – alongside the rest of the grid, tbf – the Dutch F1 superstar will swap out of his V6 hybrid Red Bull and into a V8 Mercedes-AMG GT to run the famous, terrifying 24hr race in May.
“The Nürburgring is a special place,” he said about his new challenge. “There’s no other track like it. The Nürburgring 24hr is a race that’s been on my bucket list for a long time, so I’m really thrilled we can make it happen now.
“Last year, I was able to get my DMSB Permit Nordschleife and participate in NLS9, that we won.
“We’ve got a strong line-up with Dani (Juncadella), Jules (Gounon), and Lucas (Auer), and great support from Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG Motorsport,” he added.
He’s been a fan of the Green Hell for a while as you’ll remember: last year he not-so-secretly tested a Ferrari 296 GT3 under the pseudonym ‘Franz Hermann’.
So it’s not entirely a reaction to this year’s sweeping regulation changes, even if Verstappen had some, let’s say ‘choice’ words to say after the Australian GP: “If you enjoy that, OK, but that’s what I do at home and I play Mario Kart. For me personally, I didn’t enjoy that. The way that you were racing is not really proper.”
N24’s pretty proper. Roll on May.