![\"Falken](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Falken-Porsche-911-on-Nurburgring-800x450.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n\u201cMax joining in is unbelievable. He\u2019s a true racer. It\u2019s crazy that he\u2019s just like, \u201cYeah, I won the last F1 race and in between, I\u2019m just racing the Cayman. I do not care at all, I\u2019m doing my permit.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just incredible. He\u2019s a racer. He doesn\u2019t care about all the side effects. He just wants to drive cars. I love Max doing it without complaining, \u2018I\u2019m a world champion\u2019. He just does it. He knows that\u2019s the rule, and he wants to race. And it really proves that he is crazy about driving cars.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe N\u00fcrburgring is always something special. You can\u2019t compare it with any other series. The vibe is completely different. It\u2019s the longest permanent track and by far the best track on Earth. I think 90% of the drivers say the same, and obviously also Max wants to join in for that reason.\u201d<\/p>\n
For both Verstappen and Menzel, the NLS races are primarily a chance to build up to the big event: the N\u00fcrburgring 24 Hours which takes place next year in May. The shorter events help teams and drivers drill for the gruelling twice-round-the-clock classic, while offering a useful form guide for fans.<\/p>\n
Menzel\u2019s Falken squad has won four races this year in the 911 GT3, helped by a tyre development programme that has honed its rubber for this particular car on this particular circuit.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Falken Porsche 911s have won half of all NLS races this year<\/p>\n
\n Falken\n <\/p>\n
In total, Porsche 911 drivers have taken seven of the eight GT3 victories this year \u2014 \u201cIt\u2019s the brand for the \u2018Ring\u201d, says Menzel \u2014 but Verstappen faces a greater foe in Saturday\u2019s race: the traffic.<\/p>\n
Just 11 cars on the grid of 110 are in the fastest SP9 class, so Verstappen will be faced with lapping an endless line of slower cars driven by a range of drivers from full professionals to novices; a situation where his relative inexperience will be put to the test.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe mix of professional and not professional is just so special,\u201d says Menzel. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re a four-time F1 world champion or the butcher from nearby who wants to drive with a small car, we\u2019re racing in the same series and on the same track. It\u2019s fantastic for the amateur drivers to be in one race with Max Verstappen.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou would never push 100% on the Nordschleife. One mistake and you\u2019re in the wall\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWinning is a zero-mistake job: it\u2019s about traffic management \u2014 risk management. There is sometimes a speed difference of 150km\/h [93mph].<\/p>\n
\u201cYou would never push 100% on the Nordschleife as you would on a GP track. One mistake and you\u2019re in the wall: there is no space for mistakes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Nordschleife is all about flow, reading the cars: you know where you\u2019re not 100% sure if a driver will make space for you to pass. It\u2019s about experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt some point you get the initial feeling of where it is the best to overtake someone in a way that you and the other car does not lose a lot of time.\u00a0Every single lap is different because there\u2019s always traffic, so you can never do the same as you did before. It\u2019s all about being an instinctive driver and adapting to the given situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Falken](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Falken-Porsche-911-on-wet-Nurburgring-800x450.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
One wrong decision in the rain can cost a driver several minutes<\/p>\n
\n Falken\n <\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just traffic that can make one lap different to the next on the Eifel Mountains circuit, says Menzel. Rain can fall on one section, while another part is bone dry, and the different asphalts offer varying levels of grip as the race progresses.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it rains in one part, which tyre are you going to use?\u201d says Menzel. \u201cYou can lose 20 or 30sec a lap, or even minutes if you make the wrong tyre choice. That\u2019s something very spicy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cMax joining in is unbelievable. He\u2019s a true racer. It\u2019s crazy that he\u2019s just like, \u201cYeah, I won…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":166516,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[1687,372,6537,3006,75295,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-166515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-f1","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-max-verstappen","tag-nurburgring","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}