Racing
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Max Verstappen said a GT3 entry in the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2027 is a realistic possibility after his Nürburgring 24 Hours debut, although the four-time Formula 1 champion stressed that nothing has been decided and that it would require changes to his winter preparation.
Speaking to De Telegraaf, the Red Bull driver said Daytona appeals because the January event does not clash with the F1 calendar. But he made clear it would not be a simple add-on to his existing plans. “If I wanted to do that, I would have to adjust my whole training program. Normally I start my preparation for the new season in January. So I would need to adapt that and also talk to my family,” Verstappen said. He added that it remains only a possibility for now: “At the moment it is just an idea, nothing concrete yet. I have plenty of time to think about it, but I would love to do it. And again in a GT3 car, not in the GTP class, which is the fastest.”
That interest has grown after Verstappen’s first Nürburgring 24 Hours appearance in a Mercedes-AMG GT3. He and his team were in contention for victory before a mechanical problem ended that challenge, and the car eventually finished 38th after spending much of the final hours in the pits.
Verstappen’s outing has also sparked talk about whether more current F1 drivers could follow him into endurance racing. George Russell said he would like to race the Nürburgring 24 Hours one day and described watching Verstappen’s run as “pretty cool.” Russell also suggested Verstappen has more freedom than most of the grid to pursue that kind of plan. “All of us are in a slightly different position to Max,” the Mercedes driver told the media. “Obviously, we’re also pursuing to win a world championship, but obviously, he’s in a luxurious position to do what he enjoys. And yeah, that’s great for him. And he did a great job.”
Russell later left the door open to a possible pairing with Verstappen by saying “never say never” during Canadian Grand Prix media day in Montreal, but Verstappen played down the idea when asked about it by media including RacingNews365. “Yeah, but I think I’m also in a little bit of a different situation, right? I’ve won championships in F1, and of course, I’m busy with my whole GT3 project, so I think we are a little bit in a different position like that,” Verstappen said. “I think, for him, the focus is fully on Formula 1 at the moment.”
The bigger shift is that Verstappen is no longer talking about endurance racing only in the abstract. Alongside a possible Daytona start in 2027, he has also said he wants to return to the Nürburgring 24 Hours next year if the event lands on a Formula 1-free weekend, while Russell’s reaction underlined how strongly those races are starting to appeal to drivers still tied to F1’s crowded schedule.