GT Racing supremo Stephane Ratel says Max Verstappen "brings huge appeal" as GT3 racing booms

Verstappen is due to make his Nürburgring 24 Hours debut later this month, expanding a sportscar programme that has grown alongside his frustration with Formula 1’s 2026 regulations.

Ratel, the key figure behind the booming GT and GT3 racing industry which he and his team at SRO Motorsport Group developed and evolved since the turn of this century, said GT3’s Balance of Performance system gives drivers a greater chance to influence results than in F1.

“I would say that Formula 1 is first and foremost the world drivers’ championship,” Ratel told Motorsport. “But we all know the importance of the car and the importance of the engineers. You can be the best driver in the world, but if you are not in the car of the year, you're going to have a hard time.

“You can be the best driver in the world. But if for one season you are not in the best car, you're going to have a hard time because Formula 1 is most and foremost an engineering exercise.

“With GT racing, we have achieved perfection in all of this world. Nobody can say that anything is perfect, but over the years, we have developed an extremely accurate Balance of Performance.

“And it's a category where really drivers do make the difference. It's about the drivers because the cars themselves are very much balanced, and that's an arena where drivers can make a difference.

“It's why the drivers at heart, like Max, like Valentino [Rossi], who are competitors to the very, very DNA, appreciate a category where they are sure they can make a difference," Ratel explained.

Verstappen raced in the NLS last year, first in a Porsche Cayman GT4 RS to secure the required licence, then winning on his GT3 debut in a Ferrari 296 GT3.

This year, Winward has entered a Mercedes AMG GT3 under the Verstappen Racing banner, with Verstappen also testing GT3 machinery privately outside F1 weekends.

Ratel said Verstappen had added momentum to GT3’s global exposure: “Max is great. He has brought a very positive contribution to the class. But he is not the first one and the only one. In the history of GT3, we had a number of key elements that helped along the way to get a larger public to know about it.

“The first one, who we unfortunately lost last weekend, is Alex Zanardi. Then we also had Valentino Rossi, who has been hugely important.

“Of course, Max has been [great] from last year when he started posting about watching his team in our series and coming now to the Nurburgring. It's a huge appeal. And it brings just another step in the general public recognition of GT3 racing," concluded Ratel.

Verstappen will make his Nürburgring 24 Hours debut later this month, sharing a Mercedes AMG GT3 entered under the Verstappen Racing banner after stepping up his GT3 programme throughout 2026.

The event will mark another major step in the Formula 1 champion’s growing commitment to endurance and GT racing, grand prix weekends and commitments permitting.