Max Verstappen’s first words after Nordschleife permit ruling

Max Verstappen will not race at the Nurburgring on Sunday after the committee made the call to award him a DMSB Permit A, with the Dutchman reportedly flying home immediately after.

Verstappen made his racing debut at the ADAC Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS7), with the intention of splitting his time between two cars, the #89 and #980 entries, to gain the necessary mileage needed for a Permit A.

Mission accomplished for Max Verstappen

But completing 14 laps behind the wheel of the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4, he wasn’t able to climb into the #89 entry as it had suffered damage during qualifying. As a result, he did not fully meet the requirements for a Permit A.

That meant Verstappen faced an anxious wait to see if his goal for the weekend, the permit required to race GT3 cars on the Nordschleife, would be granted.

Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher said it was “embarrassing” that it was even up for debate.

“Well, I would have given it to him straight away, of course,” the German told Motorsport-Total.com.

“Or he could have been given a briefing about the Nordschleife and the specific things. That would have been the end of it.

“The best driver in the world will manage it if the others can do it, I’m pretty sure of that.

“It’s embarrassing.”

But the rules are the rules and Verstappen, having passed an exam on Friday before gaining his Permit B during practice, did the necessary leg work, and well enough, to be granted the Permit A.

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Verstappen and his teammate Chris Lulham finished seventh in the CUP3 class overall.

“I’m happy it all went smooth, and I got my DMSB Permit Nordschleife,” the 27-year-old told his website, verstappen.com.

With the Permit A in his hands, Verstappen reportedly flew home to his family on Saturday night and therefore won’t be in action on Sunday.

“I really enjoyed myself, but that’s always the case around here. It was good to drive stints in the race with traffic, both with faster and slower cars,” he said.

“There was also a ‘code 60’ race neutralisation, double waved yellows and a standard yellow flag. I drove in the wet, the dry and in mixed conditions.

‘I’ve gained experience in where the grip is and isn’t and completed a start procedure. It was really good to gain more experience on this circuit.”

He added: “It’s challenging and today we saw that some parts of the track were dry and other parts wet. The track surface also differs around the circuit, which makes it difficult to string a lap together, but it’s also what makes it special.

“To contest a 24-hour race here, in a GT3 car, would be amazing.”

Having been granted the Permit A, Verstappen is now clear to compete in the Nürburgring 24 Hours.

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