Max Verstappen lands near Nürburgring ahead of 24-hour debut

Max Verstappen flew from Amsterdam to Münster Osnabrück Airport on Thursday morning, a 35-minute hop that places him within striking distance of the Nürburgring. The Dassault Falcon 900EX touched down at 05:48 UTC, just hours before qualifying for the 54th edition of the 24h Nürburgring begins.

The trip is explained by Verstappen’s long-planned debut in the endurance classic, where he will share a Mercedes-AMG GT3 with teammates Jules Gounon, Lucas Auer and Daniel Juncadella under the Verstappen Racing banner. “Success would mean winning,” Verstappen said ahead of the event, per news.verstappen.com. The race runs Saturday to Sunday, sandwiched between the Miami and Canadian Grands Prix.

The flight follows a pattern of tight scheduling: on May 12, Verstappen flew his Falcon 8X to Milton Keynes for a brief visit to the Red Bull factory, reportedly to prepare for the Canadian Grand Prix in the simulator, as reported by GPToday.net. After that blitz, he returned to Nice before heading to Germany. Thursday’s short leg from Amsterdam suggests a final repositioning to the circuit, where he will miss the pre-event press conference, according to PlanetF1.com.