{"id":548765,"date":"2026-03-20T10:09:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T10:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/548765\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T10:09:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T10:09:08","slug":"verstappen-escapes-f1-agony-with-nordschleife-gt3-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/548765\/","title":{"rendered":"Verstappen escapes F1 agony with Nordschleife GT3 race"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>(GMM) Max Verstappen (his GT3 car pictured) has headed to the Nordschleife this weekend in search of \u201cGT3 fun\u201d as his frustration with Formula 1\u2019s new Formula E on steroids era continues to grow.<\/p>\n<p>The Red Bull driver, who has been openly scathing of the 2026 regulations, admitted before leaving Shanghai that he is no longer enjoying himself in F1 \u2013 and was only looking ahead to his trip to the Nurburgring.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHopefully I\u2019ll have a little more fun with that, because this is not nice,\u201d he told <a href=\"https:\/\/viaplay.com\/nl-nl\/sport\/motorsport\/formula-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Viaplay<\/a>, referring to his GT3 program.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis (F1) doesn\u2019t make you a cheerful person, to be honest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Related Article:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.autoracing1.com\/pl\/474746\/formula-1-rumor-verstappens-biggest-problem-is-the-grossly-overweight-red-bull-rb22\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Formula 1 Rumor: Verstappen\u2019s biggest problem is the grossly overweight Red Bull RB22<\/a><\/p>\n<p>When interviewer Chiel van Koldenhoven joked that Verstappen\u2019s mood was also not much fun for viewers, the Dutchman replied simply: \u201cI\u2019m doing my best.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Verstappen also welcomed the chance to talk about something other than Formula 1.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt least here you can talk about other things than Formula 1,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The four-time world champion is set to race at the Nordschleife on Saturday, marking the next step in his confirmed plan to contest the Nurburgring 24 Hours later this year in his own Red Bull-backed Mercedes AMG GT3.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDefinitely, a lot,\u201d he said when asked how much he is looking forward to the weekend.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCertainly with how things are going here now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-474444\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/vermeulen-and-verstappen.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\"\/>Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing talks with Raymond Vermeulen, Manager of Max Verstappen as they arrive in the Paddock prior to the Sprint ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit on March 14, 2026 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Alex Bierens de Haan\/Getty Images) \/\/ Getty Images \/ Red Bull Content Pool \/\/<\/p>\n<p>With the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian races cancelled, Verstappen could even add further Nurburgring outings to his schedule, although nothing more has been confirmed.<\/p>\n<p>The contrast with his Formula 1 campaign is stark.<\/p>\n<p>Red Bull is currently struggling for pace and reliability, and Dutch motor racing figure Tom Coronel doubts Verstappen will even win a race in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf he does, it\u2019s only because others make very big mistakes or because Red Bull suddenly finds something,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe deficit is really too big.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even within Verstappen\u2019s extended circle, there is acknowledgement that his frustration is closely tied to his current lack of competitiveness.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf Max had been in the Mercedes, he would have been as quiet as a mouse,\u201d said Nelson Piquet Jr, the brother of Verstappen\u2019s partner Kelly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe wants to win every race. That\u2019s Max.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Verstappen\u2019s retired mentor Dr Helmut Marko, meanwhile, revealed the 28-year-old\u2019s fascination with the Nordschleife goes back years \u2013 including a plan to run a Formula 1 car at the circuit that was ultimately blocked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMax had seen Timo Bernhard\u2019s record lap and I think he wanted to beat it,\u201d Marko told <a href=\"https:\/\/f1-insider.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">f1-insider.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was too dangerous for me, so I forbade it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Now, Marko is relieved Verstappen is pursuing the challenge in GT3 machinery instead.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLuckily he can now let loose on the Nordschleife with the Mercedes GT3,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The Dutchman will return to Formula 1 action in Suzuka next weekend, though the mood around his season remains far from optimistic.<\/p>\n<p>Former driver Christian Danner even scoffed at the pre-season claims made by Toto Wolff that Red Bull could dominate in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo, dear Toto, that was nonsense, of course,\u201d he told motorsport-magazin.com.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-474442\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/verstappen4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\"\/>68 POUND OVERWEIGHT RED BULL RB22 Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (3) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB22 Red Bull Ford in the Pitlane during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit on March 14, 2026 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Sam Bloxham\/LAT Images) \/\/ Getty Images \/ Red Bull Content Pool \/\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(GMM) Max Verstappen (his GT3 car pictured) has headed to the Nordschleife this weekend in search of \u201cGT3&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":548766,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,578,576,577,82],"class_list":["post-548765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/548766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}