Max Verstappen is adding another line to an already crowded racing CV: the Red Bull driver will compete in the Nürburgring 24 Hours in 2026.
It’s the kind of announcement that lands with a thud in the F1 paddock because it isn’t a sponsor-day novelty or a “wouldn’t it be nice” comment. Verstappen’s been steering into this for a while, and he’s not pretending otherwise.
“The Nürburgring is a special place. There is no other racetrack like it,” Verstappen said. “The 24h Nürburgring has been on my wish list for a long time, so I’m very excited that we can now make it happen.”
If it feels like a natural next step, that’s because he’s already been doing the groundwork. Verstappen confirmed he obtained his DMSB licence for the Nordschleife last year and used it to get seat time in NLS9 — and, not insignificantly, to win.
“Last year, I obtained my DMSB licence for the Nordschleife and was able to participate in NLS9, where we won,” he said. “This preparation is very valuable, as we learned a lot that we can incorporate into this year’s programme.”
That last line is the tell. This isn’t a one-off box-tick for 2026; it’s being treated like a project with a build-up, a plan, and an internal feedback loop. The Nordschleife doesn’t reward romanticism. It rewards people who take it seriously long before the big week arrives — learning traffic management, understanding how the car behaves over the crests when you’re 19 hours into a race, and adapting to conditions that can change corner-to-corner.
Verstappen will race alongside Dani, Jules and Lucas, with support coming from both Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG Motorsport.
“With Dani, Jules and Lucas, we have a strong line-up and are receiving great support from Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG Motorsport,” he said. “Now it’s a matter of making the right preparations before the events so that we can get the most out of ourselves in the races.”
That pairing of Red Bull backing and Mercedes-AMG Motorsport involvement will raise eyebrows on its own — not because of some made-for-social-media rivalry narrative, but because it underlines how serious the effort is. Nürburgring 24 Hours success is as much about professional infrastructure as it is about outright speed, and Verstappen’s clearly stepping into a programme with proper factory-grade resource behind it.
For F1, it also adds to an ongoing conversation that never really goes away: what the modern top driver does when he isn’t “supposed” to do anything except F1. Verstappen has never looked particularly interested in shrinking his world to fit the neat little box of a Grand Prix calendar. If anything, the closer the sport gets to being perfectly managed, perfectly optimised, perfectly sanitised, the more he seems to value the stuff that’s messy and real — long stints, mixed classes, unpredictable weather, and the kind of racing where reputation doesn’t buy you clear track.
In 2026, he’ll find out if a four-time (and counting) F1 benchmark can translate that precision into a race that’s built to punish complacency. The Nürburgring doesn’t care who you are. But it does tend to respect the drivers who show up having done their homework — and Verstappen, by his own account, has been doing exactly that.
