F1 champion Max Verstappen WILL race this weekend after double race cancellation

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen WILL race this weekend after double F1 cancellation

There will be no F1 this weekend

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Monday 6 April 2026 20:25

Max Verstappen is using the F1 race cancellations to take part in another event to celebrate a significant milestone.

Due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, F1 will not race in Bahrain or Saudi Arabia in April, with the fourth and fifth rounds being cancelled. They were both scheduled for the weekends of April 10-12 and April 17-19 respectively, but now the next race weekend will be in Miami, which takes place Friday, May 1 through to and including Sunday, May 3.

It means there's a five-week break between the Japanese and Miami Grands Prix, but that doesn't mean four-time Max Verstappen won't be in action.

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It was announced on social media that this weekend on Sunday, April 12, Verstappen Sim Racing (previously known as Team Redline) will host a celebration race on iRacing at the Nurburgring, on the day he was initially supposed to be competing in the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix.

Recently, the team reached the milestone of 500,000 followers on Twitch and, with no Bahrain GP this weekend, Verstappen is now free to take part in the sim race instead to celebrate.

The race starts at 18:00 CEST (17:00 BST) and can be watched here: twitch.tv/verstappensimracing.

When will Max Verstappen next compete at the Nurburgring?

A sim race at the Nurburgring isn't the only event on Verstappen's calendar, with the Dutchman jumping back into GT machinery for the ADAC 24h Nurburgring qualifiers on Saturday, April 18 and Sunday, April 19.

The qualifiers did clash with the Saudi Arabian GP and previously rendered Verstappen unable to compete, but since the cancellation, Verstappen will be using every available event to prepare for his upcoming 24 hours debut.

Verstappen will then take part in the iconic Nurburgring 24 Hours, which takes place May 14 until May 17. He will once again compete in the Mercedes AMG-GT3 with team Winward Racing, reuniting with Dani Juncadella and Jules Gounon - who he won the NLS2 with back in March before the team were disqualified - and will also be joined by Lucas Auer in the No.3 car.

Verstappen's not the only F1 driver who will be jumping into GT machinery over the spring break, with Aston Martin star Lance Stroll making his own debut at Paul Ricard.

Stroll will take on the opening round of the 2026 GT World Challenge Europe, which takes place when the Bahrain GP would have done, April 11-12 (the same weekend as Verstappen's sim race).

The Canadian will get behind the wheel of an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and will share the Comtoyou Racing car with Roberto Merhi and Mari Boya.

F1 Red Bull Max Verstappen Nürburgring