Jeremy Clarkson tackled iconic Nurburgring long before F1 superstar Max Verstappen

Jeremy Clarkson is pictured alongside the layout of the Nurburgring — Photo: © IMAGO

Max Verstappen at the Nurburgring

Jeremy Clarkson tackled iconic Nurburgring long before F1 superstar Max Verstappen

Clarkson though was not nearly as prepared as Verstappen at the Green Hell

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Friday 15 May 2026 21:15

Max Verstappen is back at the Nurburgring this weekend as once more fans checkout of F1 and see what is going on at arguably the most famous race track in the world.

What's going on is the four-time F1 champion will be taking part in the Nurburgring 24 hour race, a terrifying prospect given the undulating, meandering course through 13 miles and 170 corners represents a track so dangerous even F1 got cold feet on it in the 1970s and never returned (at least to the original course).

Verstappen though isn't the first person to get out of his comfort zone to try and tackle the circuit nicknamed the 'Green Hell'

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In 2004 Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear attempted to attack the course himself. But in terms of trying something new, this is where the similarities between Clarkson and Verstappen end.

Because while ability is an important factor here, the biggest of all is unlike Verstappen, who races in F1 then finishes and goes and races again in simulators, Clarkson didn't have the faintest of clues how to get around the circuit.

Clarkson's Nurburgring challenge

At a track where a talented driver who knows the circuit could tackle it in a Ferrari Enzo in around eight minutes (excluding the GP circuit section), Clarkson's goal was to get round in a Jaguar S Type diesel in 10 minutes.

He wasn't alone though. Sabine Schmitz (long before her Top Gear presenter days!) was a Nurburgring expert and since the age of 3 had done an estimated 15,000 laps of the track up until that point.

Schmitz, who sadly passed away in 2021, helped coach Clarkson around his first lap of the track... and he was five minutes off his goal. She looked shocked at Clarkson describing his driving style as weird and had doubts he would get under 10 minutes on his own and that it would 'take years'.

For the purposes of tone, this was all said in jest but she did have a point. Clarkson was driving around the Nurbrugring like Hans Moleman from the Simpsons.

Even after a full day of trying to learn the track, Schmitz's summary on Clarkson consisted of: "He looks a bit lazy behind the steering wheel like he can do everything like he is the best driver the world has ever seen, Michael Schumacher from Britain maybe but I think he isn't".

In fact perhaps the kindest thing Schmitz had to say about Clarkson's driving at this point was: "You're not 100 per cent talent free but 80 per cent".

The Nurburgring is a daunting challenge for anyone not familiar with the track

Five minutes slower

Trying to find five minutes around the Nurburgring for a newbie isn't as daunting a task as it seems though. Learning the circuit's corners take a lot of time, learning how to take them fast takes even longer. But in regards to the former, you can find chunks of time just through confidence and knowing where to position your car for the upcoming corner. Learning the circuit is a huge milestone.

Clarkson goes through a bigger nightmare when he practices the following morning - discovering the joys of a wet Nurburgring and finding out the hard way to stay off the kerbs as he spins the Jag and somehow keeps it out of a barrier.

But as the track dries and he becomes more familiar, the lap times start coming down and eventually as he crosses the line under the bridge, he creeps under the 10 minute mark at Nine minutes and 59 seconds. All convenient for a TV show, perhaps? Either way, it wasn't long before Clarkson was made to feel like a Nurburgring dunce again.

Schmitz's van challenge

An unimpressed Schmitz immediately proclaimed she could beat him in a van. Less than a year later, Schmitz tried just that, using a Ford Transit van she described as having the handling of a 'school bus', with Clarkson's co-presenter Richard Hammond on another episode of Top Geare.

But the first time was 23 seconds slower than Clarkson's, and given the technical prowess of Schmitz, finding this time wasn't easy. According to Hammond 'it was almost an impossibility'.

But while there was no time to be gained by the driver, there was by the van - and not by small measures. Tape was put on the front to block any holes for streamlining, everything inside the van including the passenger seats (and Hammond) was removed.

To create a slipstream for the van on the long straights and uphill sections, a Dodge Viper was called in to run in front of it. Surely this would get the job done?

...no, Schmitz was still eight seconds off as after wiping her brow in the van she called it 'the hardest race I've ever had in my life."

Speaking to Hammond afterwards, she reflected on being scared with the lengths she had to push: I" pushed hard I'm telling you I was sweating everywhere."

So Clarkson may have won overall, but given how close Schmitz got to his sporty Jaguar with a van that would otherwise turn up to sort your broken boiler out, it's clear that while you can learn the Nurburgring in a day or two, it takes a whole generation to master it.

Sabine-Schmitz-Kurve

The Nurburgring have honoured Schmitz by renaming a corner of the track after her following her deeply saddening passing.

The corner is the first after the finish line of the Nordschleife, which is the first the drivers reach after exiting the modern day grand prix complex back onto the original circuit. If the new grand prix circuit is not being used it can be considered the first corner after the pit lane.

The corner is a left hander which is deceptive in the speed you can actually carry into the corner, with it being easy to apply the power too early coming out of the apex and running off to the right grass verge. It then leads downhill into the tricky 'Hatzenbach' section.

Having been the first woman to win the daunting Nurburgring 24 hour race, Schmitz is known as the 'Queen of the Nurburgring', and the corner will help her memory live on at the circuit forever.

Written by

Dan Ripley - Global Editor

I've been a massive F1 fan since the mid 1990s and continue to study the history of the sport long before that. As an experienced motor sport reporter covering F1, MotoGP and the LeMans 24 Hour race, being part of GPFans has allowed me to work with a diverse team with all sorts of different backgrounds in watching the sport and given me a greater appreciation of F1.

View full biography

F1 Max Verstappen Nürburgring Nurburgring Nordschleife 24 Hours of Nurburgring Jeremy Clarkson