Max Verstappen is expected to make his Nürburgring race debut this weekend, and you can watch every moment via live stream.
Motor Sport will be carrying live coverage from 10.30am BST on Saturday, ahead of the start of the four-hour race at 11am BST.
The event is the eighth round of the Nürburgring Endurance Championship (Nürburgring Langstrecken-Meisterschaft) and, as Verstappen hasn’t competed at the 12.944-mile Nordschleife before, the four-time champion is seen as a novice in the eyes of the organisers. That’s despite reportedly breaking the GT3 lap record on the circuit earlier this year when he took part in a test session under the pseudonym Franz Hermann.
Verstappen is therefore having to earn the permits that will allow him to race the most powerful GT3 cars.
The first stage, on Friday, requires him to undertake an e-learning course that covers the specific rules for racing on the Nordschleife, before he follows an instructor on track in a series of laps designed to show him the best racing lines to take.
“Franz Hermann”‘s Ferrari 296 GT3
Getty Images
Verstappen will then have to do a further series on laps in a test session before being awarded his Permit B licence that will allow him to race the following day.
Why Verstappen will be driving a restricted car
This second-tier permit will only allow him to compete in lower-powered machines, weighing a minimum of 4.2kg per horsepower produced. As such, the Porsche Cayman he’s expected to drive for Lionspeed GP will have to be restricted. In standard spec, it weighs 3.1kg per horsepower, so the required power reduction means that it’s unlikely the F1 champion will even be in contention for class victories.
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Verstappen needs two results as a Permit B holder to earn a top-tier Permit A, and could achieve this on Saturday because he’ll be sharing his car with at least one other driver. When he hands over the wheel, he will be allowed to race the second Cayman entered by Lionspeed. As long as he completes at least 14 laps in total and 20% of the race distance in each car, he’ll be classified twice.
That could see him move up to the GT3 class the following day, as the weekend is a double-header and there’s a second four-hour race on Sunday.
There’s likely to be a longer-term goal behind it all: Verstappen has previously talked about one day racing at the Nürburgring 24 Hours and Le Mans Hours. This weekend can be seen as the first stage in achieving those goals.
