Outside of his GT3 endeavours, Max Verstappen had long since held an interest in driving the Nurburgring Nordschleife.<\/p>\n
But, Verstappen\u2019s plan to demo run a Red Bull F1 car around the \u2018Green Hell\u2019 was \u201cbanned\u201d by Helmut Marko, who himself revealed this. Verstappen<\/a> made his racing return to the venue this weekend, but went from the ecstasy of victory, to the agony of a post-race disqualification.<\/p>\n Max Verstappen Nurburgring plan blocked by Helmut Marko<\/p>\n Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for news you can trust.<\/p>\n Verstappen, alongside Daniel Juncadella and Jules Gounon, manned the Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 machines, in what was the first race of the 2026 N\u00fcrburgring Langstrecken-Serie [NLS] season.<\/p>\n The trio had claimed a commanding victory around the Nurburgring Nordschleife, Verstappen pumping in a crucial first and final stint. The margin of victory at the time was over a minute.<\/p>\n But, the news broke post-race that Verstappen and Co. had been disqualified. There is a strict limit in place of six sets of tyres for the race. Verstappen\u2019s team had used seven due to an error which traced back to qualifying.<\/p>\n Ahead of the race, Marko, Red Bull\u2019s former Formula 1 senior advisor and driver programme boss, revealed that years back, Verstappen had plans to lap the fearsome Nordschleife in a Red Bull F1 car.<\/p>\n That did not sit comfortably with Marko.<\/p>\n \u201cMax was raving to me about the Nordschleife years ago,\u201d Marko told F1-Insider.com. \u201cBack then, he wanted to do a demonstration run in a Formula 1 Red Bull. But that set off all my alarm bells.\u201d<\/p>\n To Marko\u2019s mind, Verstappen had an ulterior motive.<\/p>\n \u201cDemonstration run, my foot!\u201d Marko declared. \u201cMax had seen that crazy video of Timo Bernhard breaking the lap record in a Le Mans Porsche. I reckon he wanted to top that with the Red Bull.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was too dangerous for me. That\u2019s why I put a stop to it and banned it.\u201d<\/p>\n Latest on Max Verstappen from PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n Max Verstappen disqualified as Nurburgring win lost to rule breach<\/a><\/p>\n Max Verstappen team \u2018hurt\u2019 by Nurburgring DSQ as apology issued<\/a><\/p>\n Verstappen found his way onto this iconic track in GT3 machinery. While his latest NLS outing brought a frustrating outcome, it is all part of the bigger picture, as Verstappen continues his preparations for his Nurburgring 24 Hours debut in May.<\/p>\n With a blank F1 schedule for April now, Verstappen is looking into contesting the Nurburgring 24 Hours qualifying races to take place during that month.<\/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