Max Verstappen was banned from doing a showrun at the Nordschleife later this year by Helmut Marko. Speaking about it in Canada after it was confirmed that Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel would be driving F1 machinery in September, the two-time World Champion explained why.
“I wanted to do it, but I was not allowed by Helmut. He knew that I would try and go to the limits. I would have loved to do it.
“I didn’t want to start unnecessary issues. I heard this thing was coming up, and Helmut was sitting at the table when it came up, and he said: ‘No, no, no, you’re not doing that!'”
The 41-time Grand Prix winner admitted he would have gone after the track record around the iconic German venue had he been given permission to do so.
Nonetheless, he would absolutely try to do in the future at some stage.
“I would have definitely given it a go. But you need not the demo tyres [that teams are required to run with] and some proper tyres, which is not allowed.
“It’s also risky to drive here. It just depends on how you hit a barrier. But that’s normally not the plan, of course. But hopefully one day I can do it.”
Speaking on the Inside Line F1 Podcast following Red Bull’s 100th Grand Prix win at the Canadian Grand Prix, Marko stated why he has stopped Verstappen from participating.
The Austrian knows what Verstappen is like in pushing to the limits. He also explained how the venue is not suitable for doing that.
“You know, it’s basically a showrun. So you don’t have the time to set up the car. Nürburgring Nordschleife is something really special. You have bumps, you’re jumping.
“So it’s a car which is not specially made for it, and I know Max. You know, he says he doesn’t care about records. He knows the record by the second.
“And if he is driving there, he’s not going only to beat it, he wants to beat it in a big way.
“As I mentioned with the car, which is not prepared for that, it’s a high risk. And that is really not necessary to take.
“And you can agree, and he would say, ‘no, I won’t’. I know him. As soon as he’s in the car, he would go for it.”
Photo credit: Red Bull Content Pool
Instead of Verstappen attending the event, current AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda will get the opportunity to do so as the Japanese driver joins Ricciardo and Vettel in a star-studded event.
