Max Verstappen demolishes rivals in stunning race win

F1 champion Max Verstappen made his debut in the GT3 Nurburgring Langstrecken-Serie debut on Saturday alongside Chris Lulham, the pair taking a dominant victory in their Ferrari 296 GT3.

Verstappen, driving the No. 31 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 after earning his DMSB Permit A recently, qualified third for his debut GT3 race at the Nurburgring Nordschleife.

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.

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.”

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Verstappen and Lulham school GT3 field

Fellow sim racer Jann Mardenborough finished second in his #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 #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 champions in between F1's Miami and Canadian Grands Prix.

READ MORE: American track dropped as F1 confirm 2026 sprint schedule

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