Why F1 star Max Verstappen is racing in Nuerburgring 24 Hours midway through the season?

Max Verstappen's much-anticipated debut at the Nuerburgring 24 Hours took place on Friday with the four-time F1 world champion's Red Bull-backed Mercedes team qualifying fourth.

The Nurburgring 24 Hours, one of the biggest endurance races in the world, takes place at the famed and fearsome German ​track known as "The Green Hell". Verstappen has made six outings at the Nordschleife in the last 12 months to prepare for this event.

After the qualifying round, he said that he felt good in the car and also added that the team did well.

"I felt ​good in the car. Of course, our goal was to ​get into the Top Qualifying 3 (session). That isn’t an easy task with this level of competition," Verstappen said on his website after ​lapping sixth fastest in the second stage.

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"There are ​a lot of fast cars but we managed to do it. The ‌last ⁠lap was just fast enough. Luckily it was dry and the car felt good.”

Why Verstappen is racing in Germany

Verstappen has been among the biggest critics of the new F1 regulations and has even hinted at being willing to retire from the sport. He has previously also stated that he wanted to compete in other racing categories.

When his Red Bull-backed entry to the Nuerburgring 24 Hours was confirmed, he revealed that the race was on his bucket list for a long time. He also said that he wants to try out other things as he is currently in the perfect age to do that.

"The 24h Nuerburgring is a race that’s been on my bucket list for a long time, so I’m really thrilled we can make it happen now," Verstappen had said in March.

"All the big endurance races I want to do, it's something that when I was a kid, my dad was doing them," Verstappen said. "I don't need to be only an F1 driver, I can also do other things. I've done this already for a while, achieved everything I want to achieve so that's why I want to explore other things and I don't want to do them when I'm 40 years old. Now is the perfect age to do it."

The iconic race has been held annually since ⁠1970. The track ​is over a 25-km (16-mile) loop that combines the ​Nordschleife layout raced on by Formula One in the 1960s and 70s with the more ​modern grand prix circuit.