P1 with Matt and Tommy - Our reaction to Max Verstappen’s incredible GT3 victory!

Episode Date: September 27, 2025

Turns out that dominating F1 isn’t enough for Mad Verstappen, because he’s just won his debut GT3 race at the Nurburgring! In his weekend off?!We chat about Max’s hugely impressive drive, wonder if any other F1 drivers could go racing in other series and ask if Max could one day achieve the Triple Crown of Motorsport. The Delusion Tour is just around the corner! We're heading to North America in a few weeks and there are still a few tickets available - click here to grab yours: tix.to/p1liveYou can listen to an extended version of every race review episode over on our Patreon! You'll also access to every P1 episode ad-free, early access to tickets & merch, and access to our Discord server where you can chat with us and other F1 fans! Click here to sign up now: http://patreon.com/mattp1tommyFollow us on socials! You can find us on Twitter, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and TikTok. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello everybody and welcome back to the P1 podcast with Matt and Tommy. It's not an emergency pod as such. I don't know what you would call this to be like. We knew it was coming. We knew that he was going to be racing. And we thought, look, we may as well talk about it. There's no Formula One going on. And Max Verstappen decided I'm not winning enough in F1 at the moment.

Let me go and do some side quests. Yeah, it's getting boring, isn't it? Back to Vastappan dominance and winning every weekend. and yeah, I feel like I'm in 2023 again. Well, you're not, and McLaren are still very fast in Formula One. But, yeah, Max did very, very well. So let's recap exactly what went on. I guess over the sort of month of September.

So first and foremost, of course, he got the fastest lap in Formula One history by the average speed in Monza qualifying. He then won the race the next day. The next week after that, he gets the Nordschlafer permit in the Porsche GT4. The week after that, because he doesn't take weeks off, apparently. He goes and then wins, of course, Baku,

the actual job he has, which is Formula 1, which is what, perfect. And then the week after that, which is today, he wins on race debut in the proper GT3 class with proper power and everything else. It's been quite the September for Max Verstappen,

and half of it wasn't even F1. Yeah, and mad to think he's got a newborn as well. Crazy. But yeah, it's, an insane time he's having at the moment. It is funny, isn't it, how, and we've had this conversation before about his sim racing, and it always used to be brought up by, like, Lewis Hamilton as well,

when he went off and did, obviously it wasn't racing, but the different things he enjoyed outside of Formula One, that anytime this goes well, the narrative is always like, this is why they're so good that, you know, they can do it. If this had gone badly and suddenly he was having a bad time in Formula One, it would be like, why is he messing around in GT cars? But this to me is just, this is Max just showing that he is just built to race. He's just obsessed, isn't he?

His whole personality is racing, motorsport, sim racing, everything. I remember when we were, you know, lucky enough to, when we went to Monaco a couple of years ago, and he did that speech on stage and they were like asking him, oh, what music do you listen to? And he was like, I don't listen to music. I just like racing. I listen to V12 engines. And he is just, he literally is just born to be a racing driver. It's crazy. He's just, it's this whole personality. He's a racing robot, isn't he? So let's get into the race itself. I'm not the biggest of GT fans. I think you're probably the same tommy, like we don't watch it as much and as passionately. So if you are listening and, you know, you're probably the expert here compared to us. But let's kind of recap what went on. So they qualified, say they, first and foremost, it's worth saying that Max Verstappen was racing with Chris Lullum. who has some racing experience, but he's also known in the esports scene.

So it's quite a nice little combination and a great opportunity for Chris as well. They qualified P3, which was the day before, if I'm not mistaken. No, today, it was this morning. Was it the same day? It's this morning. Yeah, perfect. There you go. Missed that.

But today, yeah, qualified in P3. That was a changeable condition qualifying. But Max was still very close to the front. And immediately, lap one, term one, goes from third to first. Yeah, at a rolling start as well, which you, you, you kind of think it's an endurance race you know what's the what's the meme no heroics into Sandovot that they say in the F1 game

and someone did actually crash and almost went into the back of Max it's a four hour race an endurance race you think take it take it a bit easy but yeah Max got a great jump at a rolling start short run down to term one made the move got into the lead and then it was kind of like his last two Formula One victories

where he was like you know Harry Potter waving goodbye on the train gear Tommy's dropping all the memes in this podcast. There's how many more references you get out by the end of this one. Yeah, of course as well. He was off, wasn't he? He was.

He was off into the distance, multi-class racing as well. I don't know if we've mentioned that. And yeah, Vestappen, who had the onboard and everything else, they made sure to properly show him because he is the star of the show. Because 100,000 people were watching on YouTube, which normally, like, no offense to the Nureberg ring and they're less races, but they normally have less eyeballs. on there. And yeah, it's an amazing thing for the series.

You mentioned about multi-class racing. People that are maybe more experienced with multi-class racing at Le Mans and watching WEC are used to thinking, okay, so there's like really quick racing cars and then other racing cars. But the multi-class racing in this series is insane. There's people going around in like VW golfs and stuff. Like that's how, you know, like low-spec some of these cars are. And like what an insane thing for some of these drives.

like no offense to them you know they're still racing drivers in their own right of course and don't want to like disrespect them but to be able to say like you've shared a race with max for staff and it's like what an amazing thing to have had it in your career and my word i'd have been you're doing very nervous wouldn't you if you're driving around in like a vw golf or something and you see max de stappen going past you're like don't crash don't crash quite literally and now i'm going to drop a reference of the the videos the really funny sort of gaming videos where you just here, do, do, do, do, and Maxford Stappen's coming out of nowhere, and you're sat there in a little road car, essentially. But yeah, it's a phenomenal sort of exposure for this series and for the

Nordchlefer in itself, you know, a lot of people have heard of it, but even putting that on the map a little bit more, it's one of the greatest, if not, you know, we think of a challenge. That is such an insane challenge, even on a racing sim. I can't remember half the track. No, I think that's the most insane thing about it, isn't it? That, you know, we've seen Formula One drivers go off and do these these things before but you know the nerberg ring norsh life got basically scrapped from the formula one calendar in the 80s because it was too dangerous and people are still racing here you know this is not like discrediting like the other people that have gone off and done weck and stuff because I love to see it but like this is another

level to kind of go do something like this because you know the the the whack is still kind of you know they're racing on fia grade one circuits and it's an fia c series, to go do the Nürberg Ring Norselefer race in the middle of a Formula One season is utterly bonkers really and shows that Max is just like, he just loves racing and that's why he's doing it really. It's not for anything other than that, is it? No, he doesn't need to prove himself. He didn't need to go and do that and it just shows the thousands of hours that he's spent on his simulator does genuinely pay off because you would think anyone just wrong. locking up to the Nordchlefer, usually an eight-minute lap in the cars that they were going round in.

That's a long time to just learn the specifics of that track. And he was only a, what, a couple of seconds off the fastest lap time we've ever seen around there. Let's go to a question from people on Patreon member, Tony Soprano. Is anyone actually surprised he won? No, I'm not surprised he won. I have looked into it a little bit more. And I've seen, you know, some very sort of passionate GT fans saying that it wasn't the strongest of fields compared to what it could have been. But there's also people out there that

will try and discredit anything that Max Verstappen does. So for me, you know, that I'm not surprised. It would be cool to, you know, tick off the, let's have a grid with every single one of the best GT. But look, Max found an opportunity in the Formula One season to go and race. He, again, wasn't there to, he genuinely probably didn't want any attention and just wanted to go and drive a GT car in a race. So yeah, it was pretty phenomenal to watch. I'm not surprised that he won because we all know how talented he is. And on paper, realistically, you know, a Formula One driver, we all say, you know, they're the best 20 drives in the world. And for a lot of people thinking, well, of course he should have gone in there and just wiped the floor with everyone.

You have to think that he's driving, you know, an unfamiliar car, he's not driving, you know, a Formula One car like he does every week. yes, he's driven that car a few times and things. But the people he's racing against are good drivers. They've done hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of laps at the Nureberg ring. So it is still mightily impressive to be able to just jump in and be that quick. Because, of course, you have the balance of performance as well. So it's not like he's got the fastest car and he can just clear off and win by a mile. Yeah, it's amazing.

what he's done. So I'm kind of not surprised because we know his talent, but I think it can't be said enough like how impressive that is and it shouldn't be like discredited for how impressive it is to jump into a series that you're not part of, even if you are

a Formula One driver that are the best in the world because it's insane what he's done, a really difficult track. As you mentioned he was if you've missed the race and and didn't actually see it.

You know, he had two hours in the car. His team had two hours in the car. And when he got out the car after two hours, he had a minute lead. Minute and two seconds, to be exact. Yeah. When he came into the pits, it was, yeah, like,

going into this for Max, there wasn't much to gain, because I think a lot of people would go, well, I would expect him to win. He's Max for Stappen. But if he had had any problems, he would have received a bucket load of criticism. He can't even.

be Gary in his VW golf or whatever. Hey Gary, Gary's put a lot of work in Tommy. Don't you be disrespecting Gary in his VW golf? Let's go to our next question. P1 picture member Jim Clark is my goat. Chances of Max getting the triple

crown. Not zero, but I don't think he's going to go for the Indy 500 personally. I can't see him doing the Indy 500. He is a GT man. And Lamon, I think he will go I think he will go for the top class of LeMont. I could see him doing that in a prototype.

He said many times that he'd love to race with his dad at LeMont, and also Fernando Alonzo. I mean, my word. Watching, yeah, Max and Fernando racing together would be my absolute dream. At LeMont, I think he will go for that. I wouldn't be surprised. Of course, we'll get into this later. There will always be talks of, well, Max retire early and all this kind of stuff.

but he he will go for that at some point absolutely 100% is going to drive at LeMont at some point in his career whether that is Fernando Alonzo where he does it does it mid-season but I can't see

him doing the Indy 500 I think he is a GC man he said himself he wants to win the Nureberg ring 24 hours Daytona 24 hours, LeMond 24 hours that's where his passion is yeah and the Indy 500 is nothing to turn your nose up at. It is probably the most dangerous

event racing event. Just the speeds that the Indy 500 drivers manage. And the fact that there are people, drivers on the Indy grid that decide to not do the Indy 500 because of it. Max has just had a kid. There's plenty of things that I think

would push him away from doing that. I just don't think you'd probably even enjoy the spectacle as much as doing these GT races. So I'm of the same opinion when it comes to what Max will do but he'll make up a different crown it's like the quadruple crown of GT or something and just win every 24 hour race

next question P1 on Patreon member Alan Enderpe with Max clearly showing that he is fast in multiple types of racing could we see him possibly stepping away from F1 within the next few years to take on other racing series I am more confident now

that the reason he's stayed at Red Bull is exactly this. I think that he has the flexibility and perhaps even said, look, guys, I'll stay for another year if you let me go play with my other toys. And this is exactly what I think he's going to do. If the Red Bull's rubbish, which some people think it might be next year, he will at least be having fun, having this, you know, having lots of opportunities to go and do other things. Would he have that same flexibility at Mercedes? I don't think so. I really don't. So, I am now after seeing this, thinking that's one of the pulls for Max staying at Red Bull where the team is his, let's be real.

But no, I don't think we start the narrative of, oh, is he going to step away now? Because he's won this GT3 race. No, no, I don't think anything has changed. And he loves racing so much that I don't see him ever really wanting to take his gloves off and hang up his steering wheel. Do you hang up a steering wheel? I don't know. I don't know. He loves it so, so much. Why do we talk about him retiring? Yeah, because also what this has proved, if anything, is that he can go off and even win these races while still competing in Formula One. So, you know, it's not even like the narrative is, oh, he's finished seventh at the Nureberg ring and he really wants to win it.

And he needs to basically take some time out from Formula One to really concentrate on this series to be able to win it. And of course, you know, the NERBegering 24 hours will be a tougher, tougher challenge. Le Monson is a tougher challenge as well. But Fernando Alonzo, of course, did the same thing where he carried on at McLaren. And it felt like the same kind of thing where the McLaren wasn't performing the way he wanted to. And he said, well, I want to go do this. And it's almost that bargaining tool. Yeah, I totally agree that I could see this being a thing now where Red Bull have said,

oh, yeah, we'll let you go and race on one of the most dangerous circuits on the world, if you'd like to. Some drivers can't go and do extreme sports. Meanwhile, Max is literally racing around the Nord Slides. Exactly, yeah. And I do think that this is going to be a thing that he does. I wouldn't be surprised if he does Lamont while still racing in Formula One like Fernando

Alonzo did. I can't see him doing a, like I want to do the whole world endurance championship season. I think he'll just do like, I want to win Lamon. I'll jump in and do the, do the, do the, the staples. So yeah, I don't think this is a case of like, Max is going to retire now and become a G2 driver. No, I really don't think so either. A question from P1 Patreon member TVR driver. Do you think this will encourage more F1 drivers to participate in other series? No. I'd love to say yes. But I don't think it will because it's just too difficult.

and something you've kind of alluded to there in the last question. Max is in a very powerful position that he can do whatever the hell he likes. And Fernando Alonzo is in a position where he can do whatever he likes. No offence to picking someone at random. Ollie Bearman says, I want to race at whatever. Ollie Bearman? Well, he's new. He's a new.

Didn't they send you a flipping teddy bear for grace? I love the teddy bear. I love the teddy bear. Bortoletto. Olly B. When my teddy bear, Timo B? Antinelli, everyone. All these rookie drivers.

aren't in a position to be able to tell their team, I want to go race at the Nureberg ring, and they'll probably say, well, no, you've got contracts. And they're not in that kind of luxurious position yet. And they may be later down the line. Look at Fernando Alonzo, Max wouldn't have been at the time. If he'd said in his first year at Torooso, I want to drive in the Nureberg ring.

Absolutely not. What are you talking about? Get in the car and drive and focus on Formula One. So, and these young drivers are really interested in Sim race. sing and stuff and Ollie Beerman. The reason

Ollie Beerman came into my mind was because when Max got back into the F1 paddock there was that video where Olly Beerman pretty much ran straight up to Max and was like,

what was it like? Was it really fun and was like really excited to like talk to him about it? But unfortunately for them, I just don't think one, they're allowed to and two,

it's too difficult for them to basically be able to go off and do this while doing their campaigns. Whereas yeah, Max is in that much stronger position because, you know, Nico Holkenberg did LeMond back in 2015. And you could have asked the same question again. Now, the only people that have gone off and been doing side quests, and that's 10 years ago now,

which is mad to think. Nico wasn't even an F1 driver then, was he? He was. He was. He did, yeah. Okay. And he just did two of the Weck races. but yeah and then didn't do it the following year

so that was like a special thing and ten years later only Fernando Alonzo and Max de Stappan have gone off and kind of done these things but he wasn't an F1 drive oh yeah was he was yeah that was pre maybe just I think he'd just announced maybe that he was going to be in McLaren he was going to be in McLaren I think something like that because he was with Alonzo so yeah it's difficult

I'd love to say yes but Formula One is such an intense sport. This is the thing they always mention. There's so many races now. It takes a massive toll on the drivers. You've got to be an absolute racing nerd, and that racing nerd is Max Verstappen because he will want to just race all the time.

I think there are other racing nerds as such on the grid, for sure, that love racing and things like that. I don't think to the extent of what Max Verstappen does, but it is very much a case of not being allowed to. It's about, that is absolutely. number one is they are not allowed to. Most of the drivers will not be allowed to go and do anything that might put them on the back foot when it comes to their F1C.

Then below that, do they want to spend their free time, which a lot of drivers claim that the calendar is really quite intense and they need some time away? Do they want to do that? Some of them probably not. So there are plenty of factors that I think are at play here. But the main one is that they aren't Max Verstappen or I think Lewis Hamilton. And if he wanted to do it, he'd be able to. You have to be a big dog to be able to go and just have fun in other series.

As much as I think like Bortoletto would love to just come and follow Max wherever Max goes, to be honest with you and just be part of it because he's a proper Max fanboy. So yeah, I don't think it's encouragement. It's just being allowed to. But I also don't think that the younger rookies especially and the younger drivers should be doing other series when there are 24 Formula One races to prepare for as well. There's only so many drivers that have the capacity. that Max Verstappen has in his head.

So there you go. Wow, we managed to chat for almost 20 minutes about Max doing a GT3 race, but that was good fun. Tell me what are your final thoughts? Final thoughts are now back to Singapore and to find out if it's championship back on all the room's over. Oh, wow.

You look at you. Yeah. Yeah. When will it be? It will be October. So the Super September that Max is having will end. Super September is going to end and then it's back to October. What would be?

I was going to say awful. That's A. Awful October. Yeah. What would it be? Orid. Orid October. Orid October. Hopefully not for you.

And for the F1 championship's sake. Oh yeah. Please not. I want to see a Maxwell step and win by a minute. But anyway, that's my final thought because I won a three-way fight for the championship. Anyway, that's something completely different. Looking forward to Singapore for seeing next weekend. And we'll see you soon.

That's love. Bye. Goodbye. is a Stack production and part of the ACAST created network.