RACING LINES
Damien Smith
Learner Verstappen aced his driving test at the Nordschleife
H uge credit to Max Verstappen. Seven days after his dominant Italian Grand Prix win and on a weekend off from a 24-race Formula 1 season, the four-time champion pitched up at the Nürburgring to make his long-awaited race debut on the Nordschleife – with the racing equivalent of a humbling L-plate stuck on the back of his car.
Rules about who qualifies to race on the fearsome 12.94-mile track are strictly policed, and there are no exceptions on the process that must be followed – even for one of the greatest F1 drivers in history. Without a complaint and with an admirable lack of ego, Verstappen undertook the pre-weekend theory test, then made his race debut in a round of the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS) in a modest Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 – which had been detuned to match his rookie status! The big red Permit B sticker on the rear of the Red Bull-liveried coupé completed the humbling experience.