Nuerburgring feels Verstappen effect as fans rush to 24hr race

Max Verstappen’s Nuerburgring 24 Hours debut this weekend has triggered so much interest that multi-day tickets have sold out for the first time ‌in the history of the endurance race, organisers said.

Red Bull’s four-times ​Formula One world champion is making the most of ‌a weekend off from his ‌regular job to pursue his passion and race a Mercedes-AMG GT3 sportscar at the daunting German track.

The 28-year-old Dutch driver will share ‌the Team Verstappen Racing car with Spaniard Dani Juncadella, Frenchman Jules Gounon and Austrian Lucas Auer in the race that starts on Saturday at the “Green Hell”.

“Weekend tickets sold out. For the first time in the history of the ADAC Ravenol 24h Nuerburgring,” the circuit’s official X account said.

“There will be no ticket sales at the box office ​on Saturday. Please do not travel without a valid ticket ‌under any circumstances.”

Verstappen, winner of 71 grands prix, has taken part in other races at the Nuerburgring to build experience and impressed with his speed in qualifying events.

“The 24h Nuerburgring is a race that’s been on my bucket list for a long time, so I’m really thrilled ​we can ‌make it happen now,” Verstappen said when his Red Bull-backed ‌entry was confirmed in March.

Organisers said that while Verstappen’s presence had generated worldwide attention, his participation was only part of the story with 161 entries ‌making the largest ‌grid in more than 10 years.

The SP9 class in which Verstappen will be competing ‌for overall victory features nine brands: Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Ford, Lamborghini, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche.

The race, held annually since 1970, is over a 25-km (16-mile) loop that combines ​the Nordschleife layout raced on by Formula One in the 1960s and 70s with the more modern grand prix circuit.

Earlier, Verstappen said he was taking his time in deciding his Formula One future and called recent rule changes merely a ‘tickle’ rather than what was really required.

Red Bull’s four-times world champion is no fan of the sport’s new engine era and has suggested he is unhappy enough to walk away. The uncertainty around him has increased after McLaren announced the Dutchman’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase would be joining them by 2028 at the latest.

“I still have time and I’m taking my time,” Verstappen, 28, told reporters on Thursday ahead of the Miami Grand Prix weekend. “What I said in Japan is still the same, but I also still have a lot of time.”

Verstappen said Lambiase’s move had no bearing on his future and there were no hard feelings.

He once said he would stop racing if Lambiase was no longer his race engineer, the voice in his ear over the team radio during the race, but he distanced himself from that stance and made clear he would have to find someone else.

“Otherwise I don’t get to drive,” Verstappen said grinning. “I think also, you know, times change. I would be an idiot to try and keep him. It’s not only about me all the time.

“The future, that’s what we are looking at now. You know, with a different race engineer. I’m sure we’ll find solutions for that as well.” On revised rules that come into force for the first time in Miami after agreement between all parties during the enforced April break, as a result of Middle Eastern races being called off due to the Iran war, he said they did not go far enough.

Agencies