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George Russell said that he felt a bit 'envious' of Max Verstappen getting the freedom to race in racing classes other than F1. The Mercedes driver's comments came in light of the four-time F1 champion's sensational GT3 victory on debut at the Nurburgring Nordschleife.
Verstappen teamed up with Chris Lulham to race the Ferrari 296 GT3, which carried a special Red Bull livery, in Round 9 of the NLS (Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie). The F1 champ took the opening stint in the four-hour race after an impressive qualifying, which secured him P3.
He secured P1 before Turn 1 on Lap 1 and notched a massive gap of over 1 minute to the rest of the grid by the end of his stint. Though Chris Lulham wasn't as quick, he brought the victory home for Emil Frey Racing.
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Ahead of the 2025 F1 Singapore Grand Prix, George Russell spoke highly about Max Verstappen's NLS GT3 win.
"It is secretly enviable that he has that freedom to drive in other racing classes in addition to Formula 1. We don't really have that right yet, but he certainly does after four world titles. I have a lot of respect for it, and would like to do it one day," the Mercedes driver said via Formule1.nl.
Active F1 drivers aren't often seen competing in other racing classes, especially endurance racing, owing to F1's long and demanding 24-race calendar. Certain teams also seemingly have contract clauses that prevent their drivers from competing elsewhere, with reasons including but not limited to the risk of injury and F1 sponsorship/other offseason commitments.
Max Verstappen eyeing Nurburgring 24 Hours after debut GT3 victory
After winning Round 9 of the 2025 NLS season, Max Verstappen expressed that his next target would be racing in the Nürburgring 24 Hours. However, he highlighted that more NLS racing experience was necessary before competing the 24-hour race.
First, reflecting on his debut win with Emil Frey Racing, the Red Bull driver said (via F1):
"After qualifying, I knew the car would be good on a dry track. Everything went well in terms of traffic, and we didn’t make any big mistakes. To win my debut race here is amazing."
When asked what comes next for him in the endurance racing space, the Dutchman replied:
"Of course, we really want to race the 24-hour race here at the Nordschleife. If that’s going to be next year, I don’t know yet. We need more experience, so hopefully we can enter a few more NLS races next year."
Max Verstappen comes into the 2025 F1 Singapore GP weekend having won two races on the trot at Monza and Baku. Singapore's Marina Bay circuit is the only track on the current calendar that the four-time F1 champion hasn't won at.
