What GT racing is giving Max Verstappen that F1 currently isn’t

Even after being stripped of a victory in his second GT3 outing at the Nurburgring, Max Verstappen found enjoyment Formula 1 is not currently giving him.

Verstappen thought he had made it two wins from two in GT racing after taking the chequered flag first by over a minute in the Nurburgring Langstrecken-Serie four-hour ADAC Barbarossapreis at the legendary German circuit last weekend.

But the four-time world champion and team-mates Dani Juncadella and Jules Gounon, competing in a Red Bull-liveried Mercedes-AMG GT3 car for Verstappen Racing, were disqualified due to a tyre infringement.

Reacting to the experience and DSQ, Verstappen told media including Crash.net ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix: "Overall it was a great weekend. We had a really good time together with my teammates also.

“Of course, we had a little mistake in qualifying where we were practising the pit stops, where they then added another set on the car when we were doing the out-ins. But besides that in the race it's very straightforward where everyone just uses four new sets.

“Shame, of course, to lose it. But at the same time, probably it puts the team on point. Maybe it needed that a little bit, but the overall working experience was really good. Also within the team, the engineers, they know what they're doing. They have been incredibly successful for a while in GT racing. So for me, overall, it's been a really fun weekend.”

The weekend provided Verstappen with a rare moment of racing joy, something he has not been used to so far in 2026.

Verstappen has been the harshest and most vocal critic of F1’s new cars and regulations, which he branded as being like “Formula E on steroids”. After a frustrating weekend at the Chinese Grand Prix, which ended in retirement, the Dutchman launched his most scathing attack on the rules yet.

As well as branding the 2026 F1 cars “a joke”, Verstappen claimed anyone who enjoys the new regulations doesn’t understand racing.

An outing at the Nurburgring provided Verstappen a welcome break and a chance to go back to his, flat-out racing roots without the need for energy saving and battery management.

It left Verstappen with a smile on his face, something he has rarely been seen with during the opening rounds of the F1 season.

“It's impossible to compare, but I wanted to do that for a while,” the Red Bull driver said. “It’s really something that I enjoy a lot. Every time I just jumped out of the car, I was smiling. And I think that's always a good thing.”

The event was not just a jolly but preparation for the wider goal to win the Nurburgring 24 Hours, which Verstappen will contest for the first time in May.

“As a team, of course, the target is to win the 24,” he said. “That’s what we're preparing for and that's why these races are great to do.

“We were lucky with the weather, and then it's all about just trying to get the car in the right window. You need to feel comfortable, confident to attack, not only by yourself over one lap, but in traffic as well. Choosing the right tyres, compounds. That is all what you're doing it for, really.

“Getting to know the team, doing pit stops, I felt like a rookie. You jump out of the car, you need to help your teammate getting strapped in. I never really did any of that. So, getting to understand the car a little bit more with procedures, because I've driven quite a lot of different kind of GT cars as well over the last few months.

“So just really getting dialled in with that. And that’s why I’m doing these races before the 24.”

Driving a GT car comes with very different challenges to an F1 car, as Verstappen explained.

“Of course, a GT car handles very different to a Formula 1 car. It moves around a lot more, you can really feel the weight, going around. So it definitely requires you to drive differently,” he said.

“But this is something that I've done for years on the simulator as well. So when I jumped into a GT car, it didn't feel shocking, it didn't feel weird to me. I was prepared for it.

“Anything that you drive to the limit is difficult. If that's an F1 car, GT car, street car… If you take that around the Nordschleife and you push it, it's very hard to drive as well. At least for me, when I sit there, I just try to go as fast as I can.”

And that ultimately is what provides Verstappen with the greatest sense of fulfilment.

In the build up to this weekend’s race at Suzuka, Verstappen made a surprise appearance behind the wheel of a Nissan GT500 in a private Super GT test at a soaking wet Fuji.

“It was a lot of fun, just a shame it was raining quite a bit so I couldn’t do that many laps,” Verstappen said in response to a question from Crash.net.

“I would have liked to do more laps, but it's a fantastic car, fantastic category in general. It was a great experience for me to drive that car and feel also the grip in the wet as well. Just being able to drive so many different cars is always, I think, a good thing.”

And Verstappen has added Super GT to his list of motorsport categories he wants to try in the future.

"Who knows? I need to see,” Verstappen replied when asked if a race outing in Super GT is on the cards. “Like I said, it's a great category.

“I wish they had a bit more of like a standout one race instead of just a championship. I think if that would be the case, it's easier to commit to one. I cannot do a whole championship. To do one race in a championship sometimes is also not the right thing.

“So we'll see. I would love to race these cars. It really reminds me of how the old DTM cars used to be.”

The greater Verstappen’s agitation with F1 grows, the more questions will be asked about his future. After all, he previously admitted he could quit the sport if he does not enjoy the rules. So far at least, that is the case.

As long as that continues, Verstappen will seek to get his racing kicks elsewhere.