Max Verstappen has revealed he has been forbidden by Helmut Marko from doing an F1 demo run of the Nordschleife out of fear he would have pushed the car to the limit.
Former Red Bull drivers Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo are due to drive the iconic ‘Green Hell’ circuit on September 9 as part of the Red Bull Formula Nürburgring Festival that incorporates the 12-hour race at the German track.
For the first time since leaving Red Bull at the end of 2014, Vettel will drive one of the cars from a team that helped him win his four F1 drivers’ titles. The 35-year-old will get behind the wheel of the 2011 RB7 that will use synthetic, carbon-neutral E-fuel.
Red Bull third driver Ricciardo, meanwhile, will be at the Nordschleife in an RB8 as F1 cars take to the 20-kilometre track in an official demonstration event for the first time in 11 years.
Whether he had considered joining Vettel and Ricciardo, Verstappen said: “I wanted to do it but I was not allowed by Helmut because he knew that I would try and go to the limit. I would have loved to do it.
“I would definitely love to have given it a go but you need, not the demo tyres but the proper tyres, which they don’t allow.”
As to why he did not exert his considerable influence to force the matter, the two-time F1 champion, in Montréal this weekend for the Canadian Grand Prix, said: “I don’t want to start unnecessary issues but I found it quite funny.
“I heard this thing was coming up, and I think we were sitting at a table when it (the topic) came up, and he (Marko) said ‘No, no, no, you’re not doing that.”
Suggested to Verstappen the risk was arguably too great, he replied: “Well, it’s also risky to drive here. It just depends on how you hit a barrier. That’s normally not the plan, of course, but hopefully one day I can do it.
“Ideally it would have been amazing in an F1 car but if it’s not allowed in an F1 car, hopefully one day in a GT3 car or whatever”.
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