Over the weekend Max Verstappen, in a high-profile GT3-class debut, won the ninth round of the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS) with seeming ease.
Naturally social media went bonkers. In fairness, most posts were well-informed, with a sensible and deserved tone of adulation for an impressive feat. However, the number of people (perhaps introduced to motorsport by a certain Netflix show) credulously cooing over the Formula 1 world champion's ability to outbrake an AT3-class Mk7 Golf while at the wheel of a cutting-edge Ferrari 296 GT3 was confounding.
Do these people live in a parallel reality where that is possible only because of Verstappen's god-given talent? Frighteningly, they might. Or are they just wilfully ignorant of the facts?
But I’m not here to complain. This is a fortuitous and unforeseen development for a class of racing that I love – one that gets shaded by fruitier sports prototype racers in the Hypercar class and F1 itself.
By showing up in a GT3 car and putting on an exhibition in something so different to his Red Bull RB21, Verstappen has drawn more eyeballs to the category than was previously imaginable. His adaptation to everything from ABS to the comparatively huge weight transfer and instability, not to mention the traffic-management element, was dazzling.
It's also worth mentioning that his quickest lap of 7:51.5 was just two seconds off the outright GT3 lap record. He even indulged in the great Nordschleiffe tradition of overtaking on the grass. In short, the hype was valid.
Liberty Media says F1 generates around 1.6 billion 'cumulative' views annually. If GT3 can share in even a tiny fraction of that, it will be very good news for the sport, helping major car makers justify their continued involvement during a turbulent time in the industry. Having a homologation base in the road car line-up can no longer be taken for granted.
Hopefully a wider audience can quickly appreciate how fabulous GT3 cars are to watch. Thanks to those strict homologation rules, these are the most relatable cars in serious racing, both from a visual and a dynamic perspective. And noise, of course.
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Most F1 teams presumably bar their drivers from such shenanigans, whether for insurance, sponsor or other reasons.
Max gets to race a privateer Ferrari GT3 in his weekend off because, well, he's Max. Even Red Bull can't refuse him.
Max Verstappen comes over as a child who has never had no said to him.
So it's all about profit really,regardless or how he performed in the race,and where would he have gaps in his schedule to fit in a season doing two race series?