Verstappen Pushes for Future Spa 24 Start

Max Verstappen says he wants to race the 24 Hours of Spa himself in the future and has already asked for the event to be scheduled away from a Formula 1 weekend after this year’s clash ruled him out at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Speaking during his written media session at Spielberg, the four-time world champion made clear that the calendar conflict, not a lack of interest, is what is keeping him off the Spa grid. “Of course, I wish that I could race in Spa as well. I told them already for next year. It would be ideal if they could schedule it outside of a Formula 1 weekend, so let’s see.”

Even without driving, Verstappen is closely tied to the race. Verstappen Racing has entered a Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO in Red Bull colours for Daniel Juncadella, Chris Lulham and Jules Gounon, and the car took seventh in Thursday’s combined qualifying.

That has kept him engaged from Spielberg. “Yes, I'll try to watch it as much as I can. The car is racing with our drivers, so I'm very much involved this weekend,” Verstappen said, adding that he had been following the Spa sessions on his phone shortly before speaking to the media.

His push to race there is also rooted in how highly he rates the event itself. Verstappen called Spa “an amazing track” and said “a 24-hour race with only GT cars is something very special.”

He has already taken that message beyond next season, asking GT World Challenge Europe organizers whether the 2027 running could avoid an F1 weekend clash. When it was put to him that he could always skip a grand prix if he were not directly involved in the title fight, Verstappen laughed: “I'm sure that Red Bull will not be very happy with that!”