Max Verstappen’s GT3 rise praised by F1 safety car driver Bernd Maylander

Formula 1's safety car driver Bernd Maylander has praised Max Verstappen for his foray into GT racing, revealing that he is eagerly watching the four-time F1 champion's endurance arc.

Speaking on the F1 Beyond The Grid podcast, Maylander, who is a former winner of the Nurburgring 24 Hours, shared his enthusiasm for Verstappen's recent outings in Mercedes GT3 machinery at the legendary German circuit.

"The basics are somehow similar," Maylander said when asked if what Verstappen is racing in is similar to the Mercedes AMG GT Black Series that he pilots as the F1 safety car.

"So the basics, front, middle engine, transaxle, the balance, but in the end, the GT3, it's a proper racing car. This car is developed just to be a race car on a racetrack with much more downforce, less weight, but the basics, you can say it's a kind of.

"The safety car, we have different rules. So it should be a road car. We have nearly 200 horsepower more than the GT3 car, but we are much heavier. We have to use road tyres. So the balance in the end, it's something different. We have to cover the safety part as a safety car, and we don't want to win the race. That's a different job."

Maylander added that he was impressed by Verstappen's GT3 outings.

"Absolutely. In general, the whole motorsport and GT world is keeping an eye on what he's doing at that racetrack because the new Nordschleife, that's where I started everything when I drove my private car every weekend, after I got my driving licence.

#3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing, Mercedes AMG GT3 EVO: Max Verstappen, Daniel Juncadella, Jules Gounon

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

"That was my track to learn how to drive quickly. It was not always safe, but I never crashed in a private car. Yeah. But he's doing a fantastic job up there, and I think everyone loves it. It's pure racing. It's a very difficult track. It's difficult to overtake.

"You need a lot of passion sometimes to get the right moment to overtake someone, especially in the GT3 cars. It's fantastic."