Max Verstappen is now officially licenced to race GT3 cars at the Nurburgring Nordschleife, paving the way for the Dutchman to tick off one of his bucket list items.
Verstappen raced a Porsche Cayman 718 GT4 CS at last weekend's four-hour ADAC ACAS Cup, in a car that was detuned as the four-time world champion hadn't yet earned a Permit A that is required to race with high-powered GT3 or GT4 machinery.
Due to damage to one of the two cars he was supposed to drive to earn a permit in just one single race, Verstappen did not fully meet the conditions to be awarded the DMSB Permit A. However, the relevant committee reviewed the case and ultimately decided to grant Verstappen the licence anyway.
That now opens the door for Verstappen's next goal - to move up to GT3 cars and fight for the overall wins in the Nurburgring's endurance series. The first opportunity to do so will come during the off-weekend between the Azerbaijan and Singapore grands prix. On 27 September the NLS hosts its ninth and penultimate round of the 2025 season, the ADAC Barbarossapreis which also runs to four hours.
Verstappen is expected to be on the entry list, but this time with the Ferrari 296 GT3 of Swiss squad Emil Frey Racing, the car and team he completed the infamous "Franz Hermann" test with in May.
"Nurburgring 24 Hours would be amazing"
But the real goal of Verstappen's Nordschleife adventures is so he can take part in the circuit's crown jewel, the Nurburgring 24 Hours. Once again the schedules of both F1 and NLS are on his side, as the 2026 edition of the race takes place from 15-17 May, during F1's three-week gap in between the Miami and Canada rounds.
Verstappen could have raced GT3 almost anywhere without going through the trouble of earning a special permit, but it's not hard to see why the 27-year-old, who has turned hundreds of virtual laps of the venue on iRacing and other racing sims, is so enamoured with the Green Hell. Having been used to F1's FIA Grade 1 circuits, Verstappen has always been a huge proponent of traditional road courses rather than what he considers soulless street tracks.
Speaking at last year's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, he said: "It's a fantastic circuit. I wish we had 24 of those on the calendar. We go to a lot of tracks that don't really excite me. There are a few old-school tracks that we have remaining on the calendar and that's also what I fell in love with when I started racing and watching F1."
Circuits don't get any more old school than the 20-kilometre Nordschleife, then, with its twists, elevation changes and thrilling corner sequences, all confined within the Eiffel forests with limited runoff areas.
“I’m happy it all went smooth, and I got my DMSB Permit Nordschleife. I really enjoyed myself, but that’s always the case around here,” he said on Saturday. “It was good to drive stints in the race with traffic, both with faster and slower cars. There was also a ‘code 60’ race neutralisation, double waved yellows and a standard yellow flag. I drove in the wet, the dry and in mixed conditions. I’ve gained experience in where the grip is and isn’t and completed a start procedure. It was really good to gain more experience on this circuit.
“The track surface also differs around the circuit, which makes it difficult to string a lap together, but it’s also what makes it special. To contest a 24-hour race here, in a GT3 car, would be amazing.”
Le Mans 24 Hours with his own team?
It looks like Verstappen might get his wish next year, but he's already looking at what comes after as he takes his first steps in team ownership.
This year Verstappen.com Racing is active in the GT World Challenge Europe, entering an Aston Martin AMR GT3 Evo for Harry King, Chris Lulham and Thierry Vermeulen, run by 2 Seas Motorsport. The latter, the son of Verstappen's manager, is also racing a Verstappen.com branded Ferrari in DTM run by Emil Frey Racing.
Lulham's presence is the result of Verstappen's intention to provide a pathway for talented sim racers into real-life racing. Lulham forms part of the same Team Redline squad that Verstappen represents online, and as a virtual winner of the official Le Mans and Nurburgring 24-hour races, the 22-year-old Briton is now on course to win the Gold Cup class title of the GT World Challenge Europe, alongside Vermeulen.
"The first step is our own GT3 team and then we'll see where we end up. It would be nice to be able to grow to the highest level in endurance racing," Verstappen said about his team owner ambitions.
"If I do something, I want to do it right. I want to win with this as well. And it's about creating a stepping stone from sim racing to GT3, so that you don't have to only go through karting to get into motorsports, because that costs a lot of money at the moment."
The highest level of endurance racing would mean an attempt to qualify for the Le Mans 24 Hours, which has also adopted GT3 machinery in recent years. But it remains to be seen in which sort of timeframe the Dutchman will make it to the Circuit de la Sarthe, as that will likely have to wait until he has called time on his F1 career.
