Max Verstappen will make his Nürburgring race debut this weekend, and you can watch every moment via the live stream above.
Motor Sport will be carrying live coverage from 10.15am BST on Saturday, ahead of the start of the four-hour race at 11am BST where Verstappen will start 27th on he 116-car grid.
The four-time F1 champion has already made his mark in Lionspeed GP’s No980 Porsche Cayman GT4 at the fearsome Nordschliefe. Despite being in the “most competitive” Cup 3 class, competing with 18 other Caymans, and having around 130bhp less than most of them — because it’s his first race at the circuit — Verstappen qualified as the sixth-fastest in the category.
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 took place yesterday when he went through an e-learning course that covers the specific rules for racing on the Nordschleife, before following follows an instructor on track in a series of laps designed to show him the best racing lines to take.
Verstappen then did a further series on laps in a test session to earn his Permit B licence that allows him to race today.
“Racing is not just my profession, but also my hobby”, Max told his Verstappen.com website. “This weekend I am at the Nordschleife with the goal to qualify for the mandatory race permit needed to race here in a GT3 car, which I would love. The Nordschleife is at the top of my list of tracks I want to race on, as it’s extremely challenging and demanding, with its enormous length and tight historic layout. I can’t wait!”
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 GT4 he’s expected to drive for Lionspeed GP will have to be restricted. In standard spec, it weighs 3.1kg per horsepower, so its power output will be cut from a standard 425bhp to 300bhp to meet the regulations.
The required power reduction means that it’s unlikely the F1 champion will even be in contention for victory in the Cup 3 class which, the Nürburgring Langstrecken Series describes as the “most competitive”.
