F1 champion Max Verstappen schools rivals with dominant Nurburgring victory

Verstappen in Emil Frey Ferrari at the Nurburgring — Photo: © IMAGO

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen SCHOOLS rivals with dominant Nurburgring victory

Max Verstappen cannot be stopped

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Saturday 27 September 2025 16:49 Updated: 16:55

F1 champion Max Verstappen brought home his first Nurburgring Langstrecken-Serie victory alongside team-mate Chris Lulham in his debut GT3 race at the Nurburgring Nordschleife this weekend.

Anticipation built on Saturday in Germany, as Verstappen prepared for his first race in the number 31 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 after earning his DMSB Permit A, setting the third fastest time in qualifying.

However, the four-time champion managed to take the lead on the opening lap of the ADAC Barbarossa and led the race every subsequent lap.

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Verstappen completed the first two hours with the team, while Lulham led the last two of the four-hour event, with a strong performance from both securing them a maiden victory.

Not only did the Dutchman manage to win on his GT3 race debut, but also led with such a margin even the commentators were left in awe.

“At this point, he’s really in a sweet spot in that Emil Frey Racing Verstappen.com Ferrari, 43 seconds clear and going away," they remarked.

"Is there a problem in terms of performance for anybody else? No not really, it’s just simply the pace of the flying Dutchman at the moment. The Mustang’s now in second and third positions, they can’t match him.”

Verstappen and Lulham shock GT3 field

Fellow sim racer Jann Mardenborough finished second in his number 9 Haupt Racing Team Ford Mustang GT3, which he shared alongside team-mates Dennis Fetzer and Fabio Scherer.

The top three positions were closed by Frank Stippler and Vincent Kolb in the number 6 sister car.

By half-distance, Verstappen was already a minute clear over his rivals, capping off a successful month for the champion who earnt back-to-back grand prix victories in Italy and Baku.

Verstappen's GT3 race debut sets him up perfectly for legendary endurance race, Nurburgring 24 Hours next year, which will take place from May 16-17 in 2026, and thankfully for the champion, in between F1's Miami and Canadian Grands Prix.

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Written by

Sheona Mountford - F1 Journalist

Sheona Mountford is a motorsport journalist specialising in F1. As a writer and contributor, she covers a wide range of motorsport series from F1 to F1 Academy, responsible for breaking news, live race coverage and in depth analysis of the sport and the culture around it.

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Max Verstappen Nurburgring Nordschleife Ferrari 296 GT3