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Verstappen not allowed to do Nordschleife F1 run by Marko

Verstappen not allowed to do showrun by Marko: 'He would look for limit'

15 June 2023 at 20:19

Max Verstappen would have loved to do a run in a Red Bull Racing F1 car over the Nürburgring's Nordschleife. For a while there was talk of him being allowed, but team advisor Dr Helmut Marko vetoed it.

Marko bans Verstappen from doing F1 run on Nordschleife

Instead of Verstappen, Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo will now take to the track in old Red Bull material. Vettel will take his 2011 RB7 and Ricciardo the RB8. Verstappen would have liked to, but he was not allowed. The two-time F1 champion reveals this to Motorsport.com in Canada: "I wanted to do it, but I was not allowed by Helmut. He knew that I would try and go to the limits. I would have loved to do it."

And Marko would not be a good advisor if he did not advise against it to limit Verstappen's risk of crashes and injuries. Describing the situation, Verstappen says he was sitting around the table with Marko the moment they both heard about the show run. Marko immediately shouted 'no' three times. No way Verstappen would get in the car.

Verstappen understands Marko's concerns, but obviously balks. Verstappen says he would love to drive the showrun himself. On the Nordschleife in an F1 car seems great to him, but it is too risky for him. Maybe soon in a GT3 car, Verstappen finally hopes.