Max Verstappen shares exciting new ‘Hypercar’ plans for his racing team
Max Verstappen, the Heineken® 0.0 ambassador, has shared his exciting plans for his racing team’s future. His Verstappen Racing team has already done well in GT sports car racing, but now Max wants to aim even higher by competing in the Hypercar category. This comes after he tried out an Acura LMDh Hypercar in the US, adding to his many racing experiences.
Max, Red Bull’s star driver, hardly ever takes a break. With a busy 24-race F1 season and running his own racing team, he stays nonstop. His team competes in the GT World Challenge and big endurance races like the Nurburgring 24 Hours, driving a Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo—a race car that looks like a souped-up street car with cool graphics.
Mercedes sports car chief Stefan Wendl even mentioned how dedicated Max is, joining engineer meetings over Zoom to keep up with the team. When he’s not managing things remotely, Max is often racing himself. He recently drove in the tough Nurburgring race with a handpicked crew, leading the track until a driveshaft problem forced them out. On another rare day off, Max stepped in as a substitute driver at Portimao, racing through the night and climbing from 24th place to ninth.
But even racing his trusty GT3 Mercedes isn’t enough for Max’s love of motorsport. In a chat with SPORTbible, he said he wants to go beyond GT3—not back to Formula 1, but into endurance racing with Hypercars. These high-power beasts race in events like the World Endurance Championship and the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans. They can reach speeds near 220mph, the perfect way for an F1 champ to unwind on a break.
Max has already driven an Acura Hypercar for a 2024 promo video in Las Vegas. “I’ve tried driving these cars on the simulator before, but feeling it in real life was really cool,” he said. “Having simulator experience made it feel quite natural, and I just wanted to have fun. I definitely want to race these cars in the future, just need to find the time.”
Now, with Red Bull teaming up with Ford—who is entering their own Hypercar to race against Ferrari, Cadillac, and Aston Martin in endurance events—Max might get a chance to race for them too. When asked which F1 drivers he’d want on his dream team for Le Mans, Max said it would be great someday but hard to choose. When pressed, he picked Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg, both proven winners of that race.
Although Max doesn’t have any non-F1 races booked right now, he’s openly said he wants to compete in major endurance races like Le Mans, Daytona, and Spa-Francorchamps. So, it won’t be long before we see him back behind the wheel of a sports car again!