Max Verstappen praised for ‘extraordinary’ move during NLS5 Nurburgring race

Photo by Jack Brekelmans/EYE4IMAGES/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesMax Verstappen missed out on another win at the Nurburgring, but he still showed why so many people rate his skill behind the wheel. Returning to the Nurburgring Langstrecken-Serie for the fifth round, Verstappen was making his second appearance of the season after also racing in NLS2 back in March. Once again, he was driving for Winward Racing in a Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo.AdvertisementIn that earlier race, Verstappen had crossed the line with a comfortable lead but was later disqualified because his team used an additional set of tyres. This time around, he looked set for another strong result until damage to his car derailed those hopes.Verstappen started alongside Lucas Auer and managed to work his way into first place. But that lead didn’t last long as he picked up damage and had to come into the pits for repairs. Auer later rejoined well down the order.By then, they were three laps off the pace and sitting 87th overall. Although they climbed back up to 39th by the end, any chance of a meaningful result had already slipped away despite what was another impressive showing from Verstappen until that point.Neil Cole and Arjuna Kankipati react to Verstappen’s NLS5 passVerstappen had a memorable battle with Christopher Hasse early in the race, making a bold move for the lead. Hasse, who went on to win alongside Alexander Sims and Ben Green, was full of praise for Verstappen’s effort.AdvertisementIt wasn’t the only highlight from Verstappen, who also made an overtake at the pit lane entry that he’d practised on the simulator before the race. Commentators Arjuna Kankipati and Neil Cole were both caught off guard by how Verstappen moved into P1 during NLS5.Kankipati said on the Sky Sports F1’s YouTube channel: “It’s not often that you see someone reassert their authority on the race lead like that on the climb up towards the final corner. But Max Verstappen has maybe done enough in sim racing that he trusted Christopher Hasse could do it here as well.”Cole added: “Yeah, extraordinary. The car was a full half a length ahead but Max just did not back off. Don’t think I’ve seen that before.”Max Verstappen reacts to the incident that ended his NLS5 leadVerstappen, who had been out in front by a couple of seconds when the problem struck, was left wondering what caused the issue. He said afterwards that the team would look into what happened, calling it a “strange” incident.Advertisement“On the second lap of my second stint, I realised something was wrong. The splitter had broken off,” he said, via quotes from The Race.“That is strange, because I didn’t hit anyone, so I don’t know how that happened. We need to investigate and resolve that.”Read more: