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Max Verstappen will not be allowed to miss grands prix to pursue his desire to race GT cars, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has confirmed.

The Red Bull driver participated in a test session on the Nurburgring Nordschleife last week in a Ferrari 296 GT3 car. He has spoken about his desire to take part in the 24-hour race at the famous track, which is widely regarded as one of the most demanding in the world.

Red Bull previously forbade Verstappen from taking part in one of its F1 show runs at the track. In 2023 Verstappen revealed Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko blocked him from having his first experience of the Nordschleife.

“I would have loved to do it,” said Verstappen at the time, “but I was not allowed by Helmut because he knew that I would try and go to the limits.”

Red Bull’s reserve driver Daniel Ricciardo and former driver Sebastian Vettel took part in the event. Marko said there was no question of Verstappen being allowed to join them.

“I know Max,” said Marko. “He says he doesn’t care about records [but] he knows the record by the second and if he is driving there he is not going only to beat it, he wants to beat it in a big way.”

However Red Bull were prepared to let him take part in a test session at the track in slower GT machinery.

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“As Red Bull, we’ve always been slightly more relaxed than perhaps other teams in terms of the freedom that we’ve given our drivers,” Horner told Sky.

Qualifying for this year’s Nurburgring 24 Hours will be held next week, during the Monaco Grand Prix weekend. The race will take place on the weekend between the Canadian and Austrian grands prix.

During 2017 Fernando Alonso missed the Monaco Grand Prix in order to race in the Indianapolis 500. But Horner said he won’t allow Verstappen to miss a grand prix to take part in GT competitions: “No, he’s not going to miss a race, that’s for sure.”

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