Max Verstappen has \u201creinvented\u201d the GT racing \u201cgame\u201d with his overtake on the Aston Martin at the N\u00fcrburgring, showing even the experienced drivers how it could be done in a risk-versus-reward battle.<\/p>\n
Verstappen made his debut at the N\u00fcrburgring 24 Hours last week and showed the world why he\u2019s arguably one of the best racing drivers of this generation \u2013 no matter the car.<\/p>\n
GT veterans put under spotlight after Verstappen\u2019s N\u00fcrburgring masterclass<\/p>\n
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a> to your favourites list for news you can trust<\/p>\n The four-time F1 world champion lined up alongside Daniel Juncadella, Jules Gounon and Lucas Auer with Juncadella taking the start.<\/p>\n As Verstappen<\/a> tagged in for his hotly-anticipated debut in a double stint, he overtook the #47 Mercedes-AMG with two wheels on the grass, sliced up the inside of the #911 Porsche into the first corner, and then followed that up with a double overtake on the #67 Ford Mustang and the #34 Aston Martin.<\/p>\n His pass on both cars down the Dottinger Straight was impressive.<\/p>\n While the race leaders slowed down for the traffic ahead, Verstappen stayed on the gas and was up in P1; neither knew what was happening.<\/p>\n David Pittard, who races in the N\u00fcrburgring Endurance Series and IMSA SportsCar Championship, reckons the 28-year-old has changed GT racing forever.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he\u2019s almost reinvented the game a little bit,\u201d he said during coverage of the race. \u201cI think he brings fresh ideas to the Nordschleife.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat he did in his first stint going into Tiergarten with the Aston Martin. The Aston Martin rolls out the throttle earlier than normal because he knows he\u2019s going to catch the slower class car through the final.<\/p>\n \u201cMax\u2019s instinct was: \u2018Right, if you\u2019re lifting off, I\u2019m going for it.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cI think every other driver would be like: \u2018OK, we\u2019re going to back off with that car because of the risk involved with that.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cIt just seems so fluid he made that decision to then get to the inside.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe he\u2019s reinvented the game.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked if it would change how other GT3 drivers race, Pittard replied: \u201cYeah.<\/p>\n \u201cMax comes from a sprint racing background. His whole career has been sprint single-seater racing and sometimes that pays off, sometimes that doesn\u2019t \u2013 as we see in Max\u2019s F1 career as well.<\/p>\n \u201cI think some of us more seasoned GT veterans, maybe we take a little less risk in that situation, but he\u2019s kind of proved it\u2019s possible, so let\u2019s see.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the biggest place with risk versus reward.\u201d<\/p>\n More on Max Verstappen\u2019s run at the N\u00fcrburgring 24 Hours<\/p>\n Max Verstappen rival sets record straight after latest N\u00fcrburgring clash<\/a><\/p>\n Mercedes responds as Verstappen Racing suffers N\u00fcrburgring 24 heartbreak<\/a><\/p>\n Unfortunately for Verstappen and his teammates in the #3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 car, their efforts did not pay off.<\/p>\n The team suffered a driveshaft failure while leading the race and had to return to the garage for repairs.<\/p>\n The Winward Racing-operated car was repaired in time for the team to take the chequered flag but they were 38th at the chequered flag.<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n