Max Verstappen shared his reaction to winning his first maiden endurance race at the Nürburgring. He participated under Emil Frey Racing and drove alongside Chris Lulham, and secured an easy win after leading the race for a long time.
Earlier this month, the Dutch racer was confirmed to race at the Nürburgring in the Ferrari 296 GT3 in the endurance race. He had tested the track a few months earlier, setting competitive lap times in his first attempt. This was expected as he has logged many hours of racing on the track on his simulator, participating in many endurance races.
He put his #31 Ferrari in the third position on the starting grid and managed to take the lead on turn 1 shortly after the start. A few things on certain parts of the track helped him to extend his leady by over 50 seconds at one point of time in the race. Following his scheduled stops and driver changes, Max Verstappen and Chris Lulham brought the Ferrari to a great win in the race.
After winning, Verstappen gave a positive reaction on social media, hinting at a future return to the track.
"🙌 That was fun!!! Felt great to be back at the Nordschleife and to take the win together with @chrislulham20 💪 Until next time!" Max Verstappen wrote on his IG.
Verstappen has returned to form in Formula 1, where he delivered consecutive wins in the Italian and Azerbaijan Grand Prix earlier, making him a possible contender for the world championship.
Max Verstappen reflects on title deficit despite two consecutive Red Bull wins
Verstappen won two consecutive races in Italy and Azerbaijan in aggressive fashion. He secured the pole at Monza and went on to take the victory. In Azerbaijan, he did the same, and with two straight wins, he reduced the gaps as Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris failed to increase the lead.
As of now, the Dutch racer has 255 points to his name in 17 races and three sprints. Compared to him, Norris has 299 points, and Piastri has 324. This means Verstappen requires 70 more points in the upcoming races to take a shot at his fifth F1 title.
"Seven races to go and it's still 69 points, it's a lot," Verstappen said, speaking about his championship chances. "Basically, everything needs to go perfect from my side and then a bit of luck from their side I need as well. So it's still very tough."
"I just go race by race, which I have been doing basically the whole season - just trying to do the best we can, try to score the most points that we can. Then after Abu Dhabi, we'll know," Verstappen further added. (via Sky SportsF1)
Going as per calculations, Max Verstappen needs to get or win maximum points in the future races and sprints, while Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have to drop points to make it a three-way championship battle. However, it looks impossible.