Max Verstappen speaking after winning the Azerbaijan GP - Photo: RacePictures

Verstappen's Nordschleife rival feels a thing that happened is 'laughable'

07:45, 01 Oct

byLuke-John Buckle

Max Verstappen's rival from the four-time F1 world champions' Nordschleife debut, Frank Stippler, feels all the talk around his lap times is overblown.

"I find all this discussion about his lap times absolutely laughable."

- Frank Stippler

Verstappen took victory while driving a Ferrari 296 GT3 car alongside British driver Chris Lulham in the four-hour event.

The Dutchman was blisteringly fast during his stint and built up an advantage of just over a minute at the halfway stage.

Stippler finished third and told VNLFP that he isn't overly concerned about Verstappen returning to the NLS Series, and the extent of discussions around Verstappen's lap times is over the top.

He said: "I'm more concerned with myself, we have our own problems to solve. So Max does not interest me much in that respect.

"He's arguably the best driver in the world, so I find all this discussion about his lap times absolutely laughable. You can't deny that something crucial is missing from the whole thing.

"In Formula 1, the others are missing something crucial, so why would that be different in GT3? That's just crazy. But anyway, I can't say anything more about that."

Max Verstappen sitting in the Ferrari 296 GT3 car - Photo: GPblog

Stippler added that Verstappen had the best car at his disposal in the Ferrari 296 GT3, but it isn't a car that races at the Nordschleife often.

The German said: "That car is the benchmark and in that respect a worthy successor to the Audi R8, which is now a bit out of date anyway.

"We have seen in the last two years how good that car is, and in that time, we have not seen that car here very often.

"On Friday, that car was already going well during practice when I was behind Max for some time."

Verstappen hopes to return to the Nordschleife

Verstappen is an avid fan of GT racing and often competes in that type of motorsport when driving online.

The four-time Formula 1 world champion was very quick despite the GT3 requiring a very different driving style to F1.

Verstappen would like to compete at the Nordschleife again in his career, particularly in the 24-hour race

GPblog’s Latest F1 Paddock Update

Keep up with everything happening in the F1 paddock with GPblog’s F1 Paddock Update video. Subscribe to GPblog’s YouTube channel and turn on notifications so you never miss an episode.