GT3 expert Klien tries to figure out Verstappens secret Nordschleife 'trick'

Verstappen is participating in the N24 Qualifiers this weekend to prepare for the 24-hour race in May. These races do not yet determine the starting grid for the 24-hour race, but teams can earn a spot in Top Qualifying. That format has been adjusted this year. Moreover, it serves as a good opportunity to gain extra experience.

Klien competed in the 24-hour race in 2025 and has already experienced the spectacle. “The qualifying races continue into the evening, but only the last half hour is truly completely dark,” says Klien. “To be honest, it’s not that difficult to drive in the dark at the Nürburgring, because the track is very narrow and the lights are very strong.”

The Austrian says other 24 hours races are more tricky at night, like Le Mans and Spa-Francorchamps. “There I found it a bit more difficult, where the track is much wider. Driving at night there was more challenging. Visibility at the Nürburgring at night is really very good. I don’t expect him to have any problems there,” Klien explains.

Klien, who has a lot of experience competing in multi-class endurance races, knows that managing traffic will be the key factor. The NLS races and the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring often feature more than a hundred cars. The organizers of the Eifel classic have even confirmed that they have already reached the entry cap of 150 cars.

“Managing traffic and staying out of trouble is probably the hardest part, especially when you’re running at the front. The top speed of a GT3 car isn’t particularly high. They’ve made GT3 cars a bit slower in recent years. As a result, a GT4 car or a Porsche Cup car is also fast on the straights, so you have to overtake in the corners—really dive in,” Klien points out.

“In the end, it’s all about risk management. As you could see last year with Kévin Estre, he had contact with another car, and that can cost you the victory.” The 2025 win went to BMW. The Munich-based brand is also the record holder with 21 Nordschleife victories and will, of course, be looking to extend that record this year.

Klien, however, expects Verstappen to slice through traffic with ease. “He was already amazing at it, and that’s actually not a given. It takes everyone who drives there a lot of time to learn how to understand the traffic, to read it, and to get fully up to speed. He could do everything immediately. He went there and drove as if he had been racing around there for years and years. That’s truly spectacular,” he praises.

Even teammates Dani Juncadella and Jules Gounon—two endurance specialists—were impressed. Juncadella referred to a secret trick Verstappen used in dirty air behind Audi driver Christopher Haase. “I read that too! I thought: what kind of trick could that be? In GT3 cars you do suffer a bit from dirty air. Not like in a formula car, but he was really very close behind Christopher Haase,” says Klien.

“I honestly don’t know what it could be. Maybe just very big balls!” he concludes with a laugh.