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Max Verstappen frustrated Mercedes-AMG engineers during his Nürburgring 24 Hours campaign by insisting on using his own shock absorbers, according to Renger van der Zande. The Dutch endurance racer, speaking on Ziggo's Race Café de Stamtafel programme, relayed details from an insider involved with Verstappen's GT3 programme, revealing the Red Bull driver's relentless pursuit of marginal gains extended to overruling factory equipment preferences. Verstappen finished second at the event last month, but his approach to preparation left a lasting impression on the Mercedes camp.
The shock absorber standoff
Van der Zande explained that Verstappen arrived at the Nordschleife with a box of shock absorbers sourced independently from a contact in France. "At a certain point Max showed up with a box of shock absorbers he'd gotten from someone he knows somewhere in France," Van der Zande told the programme. "Then he said, 'We're racing with these shock absorbers.' So AMG was completely fed up: 'We don't want this, because we race as standard with, let's say, Bilstein.' Or at least with a German brand."
The anecdote underscores Verstappen's reputation for extracting every available tenth, even when operating outside his Formula 1 comfort zone. Van der Zande's source, described as someone closely involved with the GT3 effort, characterised Verstappen as "a freak" who pushes "to the absolute limit to really get the very last bit out of the people, the technology and even the shock absorbers." Mercedes ultimately allowed the modifications, though not without internal friction.
Following Jos Verstappen's template
Van der Zande drew a direct line between Max's behaviour and that of his father, Jos Verstappen, who competed in Formula 1 and various endurance categories. "You could call Jos on the Friday of a karting weekend and say, 'In the south of Italy they've got a carburettor that's half a second faster,'" Van der Zande recalled. "Then Jos would get in the car in the middle of the night to collect that part. Max is the same. It's just in the family: extracting the maximum from everything."
Jos Verstappen's own motorsport career was defined by similar attention to equipment detail, particularly during his karting years with Max. The elder Verstappen often bypassed standard supplier arrangements in search of perceived performance advantages, a trait now mirrored by his son across categories.
Near-miss at the Nordschleife
Verstappen shared the Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Jules Gounon, Daniel Juncadella and Lucas Auer at the Nürburgring 24 Hours in May. The quartet led for significant portions of the race before technical issues dropped them to second overall. Verstappen's stint times impressed the GT3 paddock, reinforcing his adaptability beyond single-seater machinery. His willingness to challenge factory protocols, however, may have been the more revealing aspect of the outing.
Van der Zande competed at Le Mans the following weekend, finishing 31st overall in the LMP2 class for DKR Engineering alongside Sebastian Alvarez and John Farano. The race was won by Toyota's Nyck de Vries, Kamui Kobayashi and Mike Conway. Whether Verstappen will return to endurance racing remains uncertain, though his uncompromising approach suggests any future manufacturer partnership will require flexibility on technical specification
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