Max Verstappen raises eyebrows on Nurburgring debut – round-up
Max Verstappen has dabbled in endurance racing, earning a solid finish alongside Chris Lulham at the Nurburgring.
Your Saturday dose of F1 news has arrived, with all eyes away from the paddock and on the Nurburgring as Max Verstappen took on GT4 machinery.
He certainly made his mark while driving detuned machinery, too, alongside teammate Chris Lulham. Let’s dive in and take a look at Saturday’s news.
F1 news: Max Verstappen impresses in Nurburgring endurance event
Having qualified sixth in class with higher-power cars around him (25 seconds clear of the nearest CUP3(G) spec, for reference), Max Verstappen and Chris Lulham brought home a P7 finish in class.
Driving a detuned Porsche GT4 Cayman which carried around 300bhp instead of its usual 425bhp, Verstappen was swamped by faster cars at the start in a straight line but held onto a solid position throughout his 14 laps of the Nordschleife.
Lulham took the wheel just after the halfway point, navigating changeable conditions as the #980 car climbed back up into the top 10 in class, with a P7 finish in class the sum of their efforts.
Read next: Max Verstappen impresses in Nurburgring endurance outing
Carlos Sainz has penalty points removed
Williams has successfully appealed the penalty points given to Carlos Sainz at Zandvoort, following his contact with Liam Lawson.
“We are grateful to the stewards for reviewing Carlos’ Zandvoort penalty and are pleased they have now decided he was not at fault and that this was a racing incident,” the team said in a statement.
“While it is frustrating that our race was compromised by the original decision, mistakes are part of motor racing, and we will continue to work constructively with the FIA to improve stewarding processes and review the racing rules for the future.”
Read next: FIA verdict announced in Carlos Sainz Dutch GP penalty removal review
Tim Mayer talks to PlanetF1.com
FIA Presidential candidate, Tim Mayer, has spoken to us about how his campaign is progressing after its announcement earlier this year.
He outlined the bigger-picture ideas he has and broader policy platforms, as he gets set to go up against Mohammed Ben Sulayem for election in December.
Read next: FIA presidential candidate outlines three core principles behind Ben Sulayem challenge
COTA boss offers verdict on Cadillac ahead of F1 entry
As Cadillac prepares to enter the grid next season, Bobby Epstein, who runs the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, believes they will be able to avoid being backmarkers in the team’s first year.
“I don’t expect them to be the last-place team,” he said to select media, including PlanetF1.com.
“So we have to build new garages, because there’s another team on the grid. And someone said, ‘Well, you’re building the Cadillac garages’.
“Those garages are the ones that the last-place team is.
“And I said, ‘What makes you think they’re going to be that garage is going to be for Cadillac? Because I don’t expect them to be the last-place team’.”
Read next: Cadillac ‘won’t be last’ verdict offered in F1 arrival impact declaration
Domenicali responds after ‘very tragic’ bombing in Qatar
Formula 1 is due to head to Qatar at the end of November, but the nation’s capital, Doha, was hit with a targeted attack from Israeli forces earlier in the week.
As for whether or not it will affect the race in the coming months, with Lusail only a short drive from the city, Stefano Domenicali said the situation will be closely watched.
“That is very tragic, very difficult,” Domenicali told The Observer.
“We are monitoring the situation very closely but we are not in a situation today where we can say that it is a concern [for the race to go ahead]. We hope that sport will bring positivity.”
Read next: What F1 has said about Qatar GP after ‘very tragic’ bombing
