Max Verstappen has revealed that he was prevented from taking part in a key qualifying session during the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS). This decision highlights just how dominant he has become on the Nordschleife circuit.
The Dutchman admitted that he had planned to drive in Sunday’s qualifying session, but was ultimately held back by his own team. The reason? Not reliability, not strategy, but outright pace.
“I wanted to drive the car on Sunday, but the team wouldn’t allow it,” said Verstappen, highlighting a highly unusual scenario for a driver of his calibre.
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Balance of Performance concerns drove the decision
The decision was reportedly made by the Verstappen Racing squad due to concerns surrounding Balance of Performance (BoP) regulations, a system designed to equalise cars across the field.
BoP adjustments are common in GT racing, but they can be triggered if a car, or driver appears too competitive. In Verstappen’s case, his previous performances at the Nürburgring had already raised eyebrows, with lap times approaching record benchmarks.
This created a dilemma: should he push for pole position or avoid drawing the attention of the organisers?
Evidence from the weekend suggests that these concerns were justified. BoP tweaks were applied throughout the event, with organisers adjusting performance parameters between sessions to maintain parity (GPFans).
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A Victim of His Own Speed
Verstappen’s growing reputation in GT3 machinery is nothing short of remarkable. Since making his Nordschleife debut, he has consistently demonstrated elite pace, even securing pole position and dominating races in earlier NLS events.
However, that level of performance can have consequences in the tightly controlled environment of endurance racing.
By sitting out qualifying, the team effectively chose to protect their competitive standing for the race, rather than risking penalties or BoP changes that could have compromised their overall weekend.
This is in stark contrast to Formula 1, where the objective is always to go as fast as possible. In GT racing, being too fast can sometimes work against you.
Strategic Sacrifice Ahead of Nürburgring 24 Hours
With the Nürburgring 24 Hours approaching, this decision could be a calculated long-term strategy. Preserving a favourable BoP window could be far more valuable than a headline-grabbing qualifying lap.
For Verstappen, this is another example of him adapting to a different racing discipline — one in which managing perception can be just as important as raw performance.
Nevertheless, the message is clear: when a driver is benched for being too fast, it speaks volumes about his level of performance.
NEXT ARTICLE – The obsession behind F1’s rule ‘tweaks’
Formula One claims it has acted swiftly and decisively to change the 2026 rules which have proven so far to be a farce. Firstly, as a matter of safety, F1 and the FIA needed to act to prevent the horrendous closing speeds which have been visible between cars who are deploying electrical boost and others who are harvesting energy.
Last time out in Japan, Haas F1 driver Oliver Bearman was blasting through the right-hander on the approach to Spoon when he came upon the dawdling Alpine of Franco Colapinto who was storing up electrical energy. The result being the Haas F1 driver ended up in the wall and suffered a massive 50g impact. While he was helped away limping, fortunately the British driver suffered no broken bones.
To prevent this, it has been agreed that in ‘non-hard’ accelerating zones, the maximum deployment from the car will be cut from 350kW to 250kW. Where the full amount of power will be available is out of a corner onto a straight, but in the case of Bearman in Suzuka on the entrance to Spoon corner, he would have had just under a third less electrical boost which may have mitigated the incident.
The obsession with absolute speed
The headline number which will disappoint some of the engine manufacturers is that the maximum charge which can be recovered across a single lap is being reduced from 8MJ to 7MJ. This will add around a second of lap time, a matter which F1 appears pretty concerned about for some reason. A far safer and better solution would have been to cut this number by another 1MJ to 6MJ, which would see the drivers run for most of the lap without resorting to strange energy recovery tactics.
Yet despite no TV viewer or most spectators at the circuit being able to detect a two-second-a-lap slower F1 car, F1 stats appear important to the commercial rights holder and the regulator of the sport. At the recent Goodwood event some of the most exciting racing was between Mini’s and Escort 2000’s. It’s not the matter of absolute speed that F1 should obsess about, but the excitement in the racing. That said, the new 7MJ will mean less lift and coast from the drivers and more attacking into the apex of the turns.
One of the most farcical elements of the current set of regulations is the sight of a car hurtling down the straight, only to seem to lose power with hundreds of metres to go. This is not merely due to…CONTINUE READING THIS STORY
Clara Marlowe has worked in motorsport journalism for over 15 years, writing features for established sports magazines and online outlets. With formal training in journalism and a reputation for human-interest storytelling, she highlights the often-overlooked figures behind Formula 1’s success.
