MAX VERSTAPPEN is set to miss SIX GT3 races next season after making his Formula One priorities clear.
The Dutchman has enjoyed back-to-back wins at F1‘s Italian and Azerbaijan Grands Prix to reignite his title challenge behind McLaren pair Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
After earning his Nurburgring Nordschleife permit between those races, Verstappen then raced to a stunning victory in a Ferrari 296 GT3 his full debut at NLS9 (Nurburgring Langstrecken-Serie) last weekend alongside Chris Lulham.
The 28-year-old dreams of one day racing in the Nurburgring 24 Hours, but admitted he will need “more experience” before he is ready to enter the race with aspirations of taking top spot.
However, F1 will continue to take priority over his endurance racing career in 2026.
And following the release of the NLS calendar for its milestone 50th season, the Red Bull driver is now set to miss as many as SIX race weekends due to schedule clashes between the motorsport series.
Verstappen will miss each of the first six races in the NLS, including 24h Nürburgring Qualifiers in April, although these are fortunately not mandatory to participate in to then race in the actual race later in the year.
Fortunately for Verstappen, he will have space to race in the iconic event, with its May 14 to May 17 scheduling falling the week before the Canadian Grand Prix.
NLS1 clashes with China on March 14, NLS2 with Japan on March 28, NLS3 with Bahrain on April 11 before Saudi Arabia will take priority over the Nürburgring qualifiers on April 18 and 19.
However, NLS6 and NLS7 on June 20 and August 1 respectively will be in the four-time F1 world champion’s sights with no scheduling conflicts.
That being said, he won’t be so lucky on NLS8+9 on September 12 and 13 due to them coinciding with the inaugural Madrid Grand Prix.
Verstappen, who has a contract worth £40million a year, will also be forced to miss the season finale NLS 10 due to a clash with the Singapore Grand Prix.
Speaking about his future following his successful GT3 debut, Verstappen said: “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.”
Verstappen’s appearance in NLS recorded 45 times more viewers on the English broadcast than the previous race without the Red Bull star, with combined viewership reaching 3.7 million.
Event organisers told GPBlog they were “grateful” for the exposure Verstappen had bought to the series, and were “already looking forward to his announcement that he will be racing with us again in the future”.
