Antonelli admits he ‘would love’ to do an endurance race with Verstappen

Kimi Antonelli has admitted that he “would love” to compete in an endurance race with Max Verstappen in the future, with the latter having recently confirmed that he will take part in the Nurburgring 24 Hours later this season.

Verstappen is set to get behind the wheel of a Mercedes AMG-GT3 – run by Winward Racing and featuring a Red Bull livery – when he participates in the event in May, between the Miami and Canadian Grands Prix.

It will not be the Dutchman’s first foray into endurance racing, having won on his GT3 debut at the Nurburgring Nordschleife last September, and it is an area of motorsport that also appeals to Antonelli – as does the idea of teaming up with Verstappen.

Reflecting on whether racing a GT3 car is something he would be interested in, Antonelli – whose father Marco has driven in the category, as well as acting as the owner and team principal of AKM Motorsport which has competed in various motorsport series – responded: “That would be super cool.

“I would love to do an endurance race with Max, together. I think that would be pretty awesome. It’s cool because we both have the passion for GTs. On my side it came from my dad with the GT team, and occasionally I go and test when I can.

“Obviously Max as well has been really enjoying it. It’s really cool for him to do the 24 Hours of Nurburgring – I think it’s going to be a really cool event and definitely I’ll be watching it. It’s something that in the future I would really like to do, to race with him in an endurance race.

“I think we would be a really cool pair, and it would be a really cool experience. It’s something that I’ve been considering as well. I’ve already asked to do a test at the Nordschleife, for example, because it’s a track that I love. I would love to be able to try it in the real world as well.”

For now Antonelli’s focus remains on his sophomore campaign in Formula 1, in which he achieved a milestone moment at the recent Chinese Grand Prix by scoring his maiden victory.

After leading home Mercedes team mate George Russell in a 1-2, Antonelli sits in second place of the Drivers’ Championship on 47 points, only four away from Russell at the top.