For Christopher Haase, sharing the track with Max Verstappen during the NLS at the Nürburgring felt surprisingly natural.
Ahead of the 24-hour race, as the Scherer-PHX-Audi #16 of Christopher Haase outqualified the #3 Winward Mercedes of Max Verstappen, Haase spoke to Motorsport Week exclusively about his NLS battles with the four-time Formula 1 world champion.
Haase told Motorsport Week that Verstappen’s arrival has transformed the visibility of GT and endurance racing worldwide: “This has always been a community bubble, but now it has grown worldwide. You get messages from people everywhere. The impact was huge, really huge.”
Despite the attention surrounding Verstappen’s Nürburgring program, Haase says there’s little added pressure inside his own camp: “The older I get, the less pressure I feel,” he explained. “And to be honest, we don’t have a factory behind us pushing us. We’re actually quite relaxed.”
Haase was one of Verstappen’s main on-track rivals during recent NLS2 and the N24 Qualifier rounds, producing several intense wheel-to-wheel battles that quickly became fan highlights: “I was the lucky one who got in the spotlight. We had such great battles. It was so much fun.
“Let’s hope we can keep going like that. Obviously, in the race it becomes harder because you race for yourself and your team.”
What impressed Haase most, however, was how naturally Verstappen adapted to GT racing: “To be honest, battling him felt like we’d done this for ages. It felt like we’d been racing each other for the last 10 years together.”
As for the fight at the front this weekend, Haase expects one of the most competitive Nürburgring 24 Hours grids in recent memory: “There will be many cars,” he said. “At least 10 to 15 that can fight. I believe Porsche will be super strong in the race, and I think BMW will be coming as well.”
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