F1 drivers react to Max Verstappen's Nurburgring 24 Hours near-miss

Max Verstappen's exploits at the Nurburgring 24 Hours caught the imagination of the Formula 1 paddock last weekend, with drivers quick to provide their reactions to his eye-catching performance. 

The four-time F1 champion was unquestionably the star attraction of this year's Nurburgring 24 Hours, with the event selling out for the first time amid a flurry of interest. 

But while Verstappen's Mercedes-AMG GT3 entry led through the night and for the majority of the morning, his luck ran out with three hours remaining, as a wheel bearing issue caused a drive shaft failure, with the car eventually crossing the line in 38th, after a lengthy pit stop of close to three hours.

"I didn’t watch the whole 24 hours. In fact, I saw some highlights and, you know, for sure, hats off," said Lance Stroll. 

"He’s so talented and so fast and so brave. I saw he was making some crazy moves in the middle of the night and was super quick behind the wheel whenever he was behind the wheel. So yeah, it’s fun. 

"When we have breaks, you know, I have a GT3 car for track days and stuff, just for fun. And when we had those six weeks off, I got some friends together, put the car in the race, and we got out there and had some fun. So, it’s always cool driving different things. He was good. It was fun to watch."

Alpine driver and former team-mate to Verstappen, Pierre Gasly added: "It was hard not to follow it, to be fair. 

"I found it pretty cool. I respect the performance, the commitment. I’d love to do the race as well and actually compete in the same way. I thought he was very unlucky. Obviously just showed the level at which he is at the moment, and I had no surprise to see him very competitive in that category and in that field. So yeah, there have been a couple of great highlights all over social media and stuff like that. I thought it was really cool."

Another of Verstappen's former team-mates, Carlos Sainz, said: "I couldn't watch the race, but the only thing that I've seen is a lot of media around it, and a lot of positive feedback from the race itself. I heard that Max was pretty handy too, but I was expecting that. Only positive news and feedback videos for me, but I couldn't watch the race." 

Lewis Hamilton: 'Could do the Nurburgring 24, don't need to'

It is always interesting to judge reactions to a driver competing elsewhere while maintaining their F1 seat, with Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso having taken on the Le Mans 24 Hours and Indianapolis 500 respectively in this way.

With Lewis Hamilton unquestionably a driver nearer the end of his F1 career than the start of it, now in his 20th season, the seven-time champion could be forgiven for having his head turned by GT racing, but this was not the case. 

Asked if he had any urge to follow in Verstappen's footsteps and battle the Nurburgring 24 Hours, he said: "Not particularly, no. There’s definitely a part of me… I mean, I love the Nordschleife, so I would love to drive a car around there at some stage. 

"I mean, the racing looks fantastic. But I don’t know. Could do, don’t need to."

While Charles Leclerc cast similar doubt on his participation any time soon, this was not due to a lack of interest in endurance racing. 

He explained: "I followed it a little but actually. It was cool to see. I saw some small clips rather than actually following it live. But is it something that I see myself [doing]? Probably, I would give priority to Le Mans. 

"But then, why not try the Nurburgring one day? But I would say I'm probably more...the priority would probably be Le Mans." 

Le Mans winners Hulkenberg and Alonso react to Verstappen's Nurburgring 24 Hours debut

Hulkenberg won the Le Mans 24 Hours with Porsche in 2015, and Alonso is a two-time champion with Toyota, winning in 2018 and 2019. 

But the veteran pair had very different levels of interest in Verstappen's exploits, with Hulkenberg revealing he had not paid any attention to the race. 

"No, not at all," said the Audi driver. "But I heard he killed it again, no surprises."

Alonso, however, praised Verstappen's ability to alternate between categories, with endurance racing holding several unique variables. 

He said: "It was great. Endurance racing has some magic in these 24-hour races. 

"You have this incredible traffic management and skill that you need to have. You need to share the car and the setup with other drivers, you need to rely on them, you need to play as a team in general, and then, on top of that, you need to have luck, which is what Max missed last time. 

"Winning 24-hour races is not the most straightforward thing. It doesn't depend only on you."