Damien Smith

For the sheer love of racing: that's what it's all about for Max Verstappen, who has won another dose of respect by claiming an emphatic victory on his GT3 sports car debut at the greatest, most challenging circuit in the world.

- 

Three days before his 28th birthday and on a supposed weekend off in the wake of consecutive Formula 1 wins at Monza and in Baku, the four-time world champion rolled out on to the Nürburgring Nordschleife in a Ferrari 296 GT3. He had already allegedly lapped under record pace around the 12.94-mile circuit back in May under the pseudonym Franz Hermann and last month earned credit for his humility in playing by the book to earn his permit to race GT3 machinery on the Nordschleife, in a detuned Porsche 718 Cayman GT4. Now he relished the chance to be properly let off the leash.

Verstappen joined the GT3 fray for a four-hour round of the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie in an Emil Frey Racing-run Ferrari 296 GT3 co-driven by a friend of his, 22-year-old Brit Chris Lulham. Naturally, fans turned out en masse to witness the moment. From third on the grid, Verstappen comfortably took the lead into the Turn 1 hairpin and over a two-hour stint coolly opened up a gap of around a minute. Lulham then took over and steered the Ferrari home 24.5sec clear of a Ford Mustang GT3 driven by a crew that included gamer turned Nürburgring specialist Jann Mardenborough.