– Max Verstappen will start this year for the first time at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, but he is not the first driver from the current Formula 1 environment: Safety car driver Bernd Mayländer has also previously competed in the endurance classic in the Eifel.
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The 54-year-old therefore knows from his own experience that a win at the 24-hour race is anything but a given. “I tried to win this race seven times,” Mayländer recalls in an interview with RacingNews365. “Twice I was very close, once I crashed when we were leading.”
“Only in 2000 did everything come together and we won.” The former racing driver started back then together with Michael Bartels, Uwe Alzen, and Altfrid Heger in the Porsche 996 GT3-R from Phoenix and triumphed ahead of the legendary Zakspeed Viper.
Mayländer gives important advice to Max Verstappen
That is why Mayländer also knows what matters in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring. “My most important advice? In 2000 we had a perfect team and a perfect car, but at every briefing the message was always the same: The drivers have to work together with the team.”
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“If you know the car is good and the speed is right, you should only think about the checkered flag. You shouldn’t take too many risks.” However, 26 years ago, there were only a few teams capable of overall victory, which has changed significantly.
The classic has meanwhile become a sprint race over 24 hours. But one thing has not changed since Mayländer’s win: the drivers must remain error-free. “With the rules and the Code 60 situations, a bit of luck always plays a role. You can quickly get a penalty,” the German knows.
Most important lesson: You must not drive too aggressively
“But the most important thing: stay on the track. Traffic was the most important lesson I had to learn, not to drive too aggressively. In the last 30 years, we have seen that even the fastest cars fail if too much risk is taken.”
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“We also had a driver in 2000 who took a lot of risks,” Mayländer recalls. “We really had to hold him back and tell him: ‘Hey, drive carefully.’ We may be on pole position, but you don’t have to be first after the first corner.”
“The race is incredibly long. If you’re not leading after the first lap, maybe in lap 50. That option always exists as long as the car remains undamaged.” Max Verstappen has meanwhile achieved several overall wins, even if one of them was revoked again.
Bernd Mayländer convinced: “It will be fantastic”
But the participation of the four-time Formula 1 world champion attracts great attention overall. “He will be in the spotlight, maybe even the only one,” believes the safety car driver. “With everything he has already shown there, he puts pressure on himself, and that is fantastic.”
“But a 24-hour race is really very long. There are so many fast GT specialists driving there. I don’t want to name names, but there are drivers who have been driving there their whole lives. I hope to be there myself in four weeks and see what happens. It will be fantastic.”
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“I follow everything he does at the Nürburgring,” Mayländer admits and adds: “It’s great that a Formula 1 world champion is participating in the 24 hours. That’s good for the sport, the fans, and the championship.”
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