Max Verstappen: Red Bull freedom “very important” after endurance racing debut

Max Verstappen stressed the importance of Red Bull allowing him to pursue his racing passions outside of F1 after his Nurburgring endurance debut.

The four-time world champion was behind the wheel of a Porsche Cayman 718 GT4 CS at last weekend’s ADAC ACAS Cup.

Despite Verstappen’s incredible talent, the car was detuned as he had yet to earn a Permit A licence, which is required to race with high-powered machinery.

While Verstappen did meet the requirements to secure the permit, he was granted it anyway as one of the two cars was damaged.

Verstappen has maintained interest in other motorsport categories and series away from F1.

As a result, the Dutchman has continued to hint that he might not want to race in F1 beyond 2028 – when his contract expires.

Talking to reporters in Baku ahead of this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Verstappen admitted it’s “very important” that he’s allowed to race outside of F1 when possible.

“Helmut always, he’s very excited about it,” Verstappen said. “He also sees how passionate I am about it and what I’m doing for it. He has raced, of course, himself in endurance, so it’s easier to relate. For me, it’s very important to be able to do those things.

“Of course, how much I can do during an F1 season is a bit tricky, right? Also, next year, new regulations. It’s already hard enough in Formula 1, but we’ll just see how everything goes. For me, it’s impossible to say right now what will happen in five or ten years on F1’s side or GT’s side.”

Verstappen also revealed that it’s his dream to race in the 24 Hours at the famous German circuit.

“The atmosphere is really good, a lot of passionate endurance fans are always there anyway,” he added. “And it’s kind of my hobby as well, racing in other kinds of motorsport.

“Of course, my dream is eventually to do the 24-hour race, so I knew that that licence needed to come. It was the perfect opportunity to do so.”

Verstappen on Baku

Max Verstappen returned to winning ways last time out at the Italian Grand Prix, dominating the race from pole position.

The true test will be this weekend.

In 2024, Verstappen was out-paced by teammate Sergio Perez across the weekend.

“Let’s wait and see. I don’t know myself,” he added.

“Monza was of course a great result for us, a big boost for everyone and I’m excited to be here, to see how competitive we can be on this track. It’s very difficult to tell.

“Also with our car, we made some good steps forward but we have to wait to see how it will behave on a track like this, which is of course very different from Monza.”