Max Verstappen's F1 request rejected over Nurburgring appearance

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen's F1 request rejected over Nurburgring appearance

Max Verstappen made a special request for the upcoming race

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Tuesday 17 March 2026 18:56

Max Verstappen's unique F1 request for the upcoming Nurburgring 24 Hours has unfortunately been rejected.

The four-time champion confirmed that he will contest the iconic Nurburgring 24 Hours this year which will take place between May 14 and May 17, the weekend prior to the Canadian GP. Verstappen will compete in the No.3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 alongside Dani Juncadella, Jules Gounon and Lucas Auer,

To prepare for the event, Verstappen will make an appearance at NLS2 (21 March) which will take place ahead of the upcoming Japanese GP.

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Clashes on the F1 calendar shrouded his appearance in doubt, but campaigning from Mercedes chiefs Toto Wolff and Ola Kallenius led to the Nurburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS) making changes to their calendar to aid Verstappen's bid.

F1 demonstration event rejected at Nurburgring

Undoubtedly, Verstappen's appearance at the 24hr race will increase the exposure of the event, which could have been completed with an F1 car demonstration run from the champion.

Speaking in the drivers' press conference ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix weekend, Verstappen was asked if he could imagine doing a demonstration lap in a F1 car, to which he responded that his offer to do so had been rejected.

"That was not allowed, otherwise I would have done it already!" he answered, and was subsequently pushed if he had asked, to which he said: "Yeah."

When further probed on his interest in competing in the endurance race, Verstappen responded simply: "Because it’s one of the best races in the world. It’s one of the best tracks.

"I mean, honestly, in a GT car for me that’s the perfect speed around there. I think if you go anything faster it can be a bit dangerous in places. But yeah, it’s just everything. I mean, I’ve been watching, of course, for a long time. I know a lot of my friends, of course, that have been racing in it already.

"They say it’s one of the best things ever. And I like racing other cars as well, so this was basically the first time that I could do it proper. So yeah, I’m very excited. Yeah, to see also how we are going to perform. I mean, it’s a very stacked line-up and field in general, so I’m looking forward to it."

F1 at the Nurburgring

While Verstappen may not get the chance to drive around the Nurburgring in an F1 car this year, it doesn't mean other drivers haven't had the pleasure of doing so.

In 1951 the Nordschleife of the Nurburgring became the home of the German Grand Prix, held mainly until 1976 and Niki Lauda's horror crash. By 1984 a new track was built to meet the highest safety standards and returned intermittently on the F1 calendar during the 2010s. The last time an F1 race was held there was the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix, won by Lewis Hamilton.

Back in 2007, Nick Heidfeld drove the 2006 BMW Sauber around the track and completed three demonstration laps, becoming the first driver in modern F1 machinery to do so in 31 years.

Much later in 2023, former Red Bull drivers David Coulthard and Sebastian Vettel took to the track in older F1 machinery for a race over a full lap.

The footage shows just how spectacular a lap around the Nurburgring is in an F1 car; so how come the sport doesn't race there anymore?

Put simply, modern F1 cars are considered too dangerous for the track, and to bring the track up to the safety standards needed to return on the calendar would require large scale reconstruction and investment.

The bumpy uneven surface of the track is also incompatible with modern F1 cars, particularly in the ground effect era where there was a risk that the track could disrupt the precise balance needed to extract maximum downforce needed from those types of cars.

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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F1 Max Verstappen Nürburgring