Driver’s eye: The ‘incredible’ Max Verstappen technique that shook up the Nürburgring

Christopher Haase, one of Max Verstappen’s main rivals at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, has hailed the Red Bull driver’s traffic management as “incredible.”

And he says it “takes some guys years” to get to the level Verstappen has already reached at the Nordschleife.

Christopher Haase lifts lid on Max Verstappen’s Nürburgring technique

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Verstappen’s Nürburgring 24 Hours debut ended in disappointment last weekend after the #3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 suffered a driveshaft failure while leading with less than four hours left on the clock.

The four-time F1 world champion was forced to settle for 38th place along with teammates Jules Gounon, Lucas Auer and Daniel Juncadella.

Verstappen’s impressive handling of the traffic in a packed field – which is thought to stem directly from his experience in F1 due to the impact of dirty air in high-downforce machinery – has emerged as a key strength since his first race appearance at the Nürburgring last year.

The Red Bull F1 driver enjoyed a thrilling battle with Haase during the NLS2 race at the German circuit in March, with his use of the traffic impressing even the most established and experienced endurance racers.

In an exclusive interview with PlanetF1.com ahead of the 24 Hours, Markus Winkelhock, the one-time F1 driver and multiple Nürburgring winner, commented that Verstappen’s battle with Haase earlier this year had caught his eye.

Winkelhock said: “F1 drivers are not used to this speed difference in traffic with all these slow cars.

“There are 160-180 cars on track. Sometimes there’s a speed difference of 80 kilometres per hour or even more.

“To read and judge this traffic, all the GT3 drivers can gain and lose a lot of time in traffic.

“For example, if you approach Flugplatz, the worst thing you can do is stay behind a slow car and then start to accelerate towards Schwedenkreuz.

“It’s more clever to back off and make a gap and then exit Flugplatz with the overrun to overtake on the exit of Flugplatz.

“Many drivers who don’t have the experience just stop behind the slow car and start to accelerate again.

“Max understands how to take the flow through the traffic.

“I watched the onboard from his second race in the Mercedes, watching only his onboard for 45 minutes.

“I was just watching him when he followed the Audi of Christopher Haase and it was great.

“It was crazy to see the amount of experience he already has. Really, really awesome.”

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In an exclusive interview with PlanetF1.com, Haase – whose #16 Audi failed to finish last weekend – has echoed Winkelhock’s assessment, revealing the secrets behind Verstappen’s approach to traffic at the Nordschleife.

Haase explained that Verstappen’s technique involves lifting off the throttle on the approach to a corner, allowing him to enjoy a better run on the exit.

He said of Verstappen’s performances: “He’s amazing.

“Coming to this category on this track – this is an incredible track, so difficult – and being straight away on pace, but also having this mentality in terms of the traffic management? What I have seen on traffic management was incredible.

“Sometimes you need to lift before a corner [so] you get a better run on the exit of traffic, but with this you need to read and have a feeling for it.

“It takes some guys years to get to this level.

“With him, [as early as] NLS2, I already felt he’s doing this already, With this, I was really surprised.

“Obviously, traffic management is super risky. Even for me, I did this so many times.

“It’s just a matter of time that it goes wrong. We have to be honest also in this way, but that’s part of the game here.

“We just tried to keep it on the road and no mistakes, but it’s something which will pop up [at some stage].

“You cannot plan this, but that shows how sometimes it’s not in your hands.”

Recalling his first on-track encounter with Verstappen earlier this year, Haase said he was shocked that Verstappen managed to stay so close to him through certain sections of the track.

He explained: “What I felt in NLS2, when we met for the first time on track let’s say, when he was behind me I was really surprised how close he was able to follow in the dirty air.

“To follow in dirty air, the Nordschleife is not that easy.

“There are tricks where you can probably deal with it to make it better.

“I felt like he was really close on some corners, which is hard to believe.

“I know also other guys who can do that, but coming [from Formula 1 it’s impressive].”

Haase added that he understands the appeal of the Nürburgring to a driver like Verstappen, pointing to the intensity of the competition and the challenges posed by both the circuit and GT3 machinery.

He said: “This is definitely the best thing that could happen to this event, because it obviously is a smaller bubble.

“It doesn’t have so much attention, but the actual competition in this category is amazing.

“I don’t know if I want to say ‘harder’, but there is a lot of competition in comparison to F1.

“In F1, you have a gap between different manufacturers. You always have a gap and the cars are limited.

“Here, you can have 40-50 cars on track. Here, we have 161 – OK, not the same category – but on other events like the GT World Challenge you can have 40-50 cars in the same category, which makes the competition extremely tough. Extremely, extremely tough.

“I fully understand that with the Nordschleife, the track itself is a hard challenge, being in a GT3 car is a challenge on track, so I fully understand why he wants to do this and wants to compete in this environment.

“We have to say thanks to him that he’s giving us the boost the sport needs, to be honest.”

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

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