Four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen took to the Nordschleife-Nurburgring this weekend to race in the NLS (Nurburgring Langstrecken-Serie). The Dutchman took the pole position for the NLS Race 2 as fans took to the social media platform X and reacted to it.
After a difficult couple of race weekends in F1 where Verstappen continued to bash the new regulations, suggesting he’s in a stage in his career where he can think about moving to a different series, the Red Bull star took to Nordschleife to race in the SP9 class, which is the top-tier GT3 class.
Max Verstappen announced his partnership with Mercedes for the NLS season earlier this year as he confirmed racing in the series. The four-time F1 champion partnered with Daniel Juncadella and Jules Gounon to race #3 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 under the Verstappen Racing banner.
In the qualifying session, which had lengthy interruptions, Max Verstappen took the pole position in the Mercedes AMG GT3 with a lap time of 7:51.751. the second place driver, a Nordschleife veteran, Christopher Haase in the #16 Scherer Sport PHX Audi, was over 1.9 seconds slower than the F1 champion.
Fans took to the social media platform X and reacted to the Dutchman taking the pole position, as some pointed fingers at those who claimed Verstappen was washed following the struggles at the Chinese GP.
“Wasn’t he washed or something?” commented a user
Another wrote, “But but but… he is Washed guys”
“Verstappen. Pole. By -1.9s. Washed,” commented F1 content creator Cameron Cc.
Other fans took shots at the new F1 regulations, while others asked the F1 commission to listen to the Dutchman’s criticism following Max Verstappen’s stellar performance at the NLS Race 2.
“Back to RACING after playing 2 mario karts game!!! 😹😹😹” commented a user
Another wrote, “Listen to him @F1 @fia”
“Pure Racing Car, not mario kartF1 racing,” mentioned another
Max Verstappen takes a sly dig at the 2026 F1 cars at NLS Race 2
The four-time F1 champion has been bashing the new regulations since the Bahrain GP test, highlighting the inability to drive flat out and the racing becoming all about battery management. At the NLS Race 2 weekend, Max Verstappen came out and took a dig at the F1 regulations as he said,
“At least you can drive flat out without looking after the battery.”
After taking the pole position for NLS Race 2, Verstappen came out and said,
“You always need a bit of luck with traffic. I think that was literally the only lap of the day without a Code 60 slowing me down. The AMG feels hooked up, but honestly, today is a glorified test session for us. I still need to get the muscle memory down for the driver changes at the pit stops. We don’t exactly do those in F1.”
The Dutchman kept the lead going into the first corner but was passed a few laps later by the #16 Audi, whom Max Verstappen closely trailed for the remainder of the first stint before coming into the pits and handing the car to former Force India F1 test driver Daniel Juncadella.
Edited by Pranay Bhagi
