Here’s why Haas banned its F1 drivers from copying Max Verstappen’s GT3 test

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen provoked rampant intrigue in the motorsport community last weekend when he drove a Ferrari – of all things – in a test at the Nurburgring Norschleife. Now, Haas team boss Ayao Komatsu has put his foot down and says his team’s driver’s won’t be following the Red Bull racer’s example.

Verstappen took advantage of the gap between the F1 Miami GP and this weekend’s Emilia-Romagna GP to have some fun under the pseudonym “Franz Hermann.” Under the guise, he tested a Ferrari 296 GT3 at the Nurburgring, raising a few eyebrows in the process.

The Ferrari 296 GT3 was run by Emil Frey Racing, which operates Verstappen’s own team in the GT World Challenge, and was bedecked in Verstappen’s livery, so it didn’t remain secret for long. But the clandestine nature of the initial entry, and rumours that Verstappen broke the lap record, nevertheless created more than a small ripple of interest.

But while it is believed to be enshrined in Verstappen’s contract that he is allowed such hobbies, other drivers are less fortunate.

“No,” was Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu’s unequivocal response when asked if he would permit Oliver Bearman or Esteban Ocon to follow suit.

“Step by step,” Komatsu told Motorsport.com ahead of the Imola GP. “Max is a multiple world champion, right? Oli is a rookie.

“Even Esteban, he’s got still lots to prove. He’s focused. What’s the benefit of them racing in another race?

“I think they’re pretty lucky that they’re driving an F1 car for their job. That’s lots of fun, I think.

“Honestly, it’s busy enough, really. You know, in between these 24 races – it’s not like we haven’t got enough races, right? – they need to look after their physical condition, mental condition.

“In between, they have to work with engineers, simulators. It’s not like they’re sitting at home thinking about what to do. So, I think they’ve got plenty on their hands.”

Engaging in extracurricular racing also has its risks. As Verstappen pointed out during his test, he had the benefit of hundreds of hours of sim racing in his spare time, so had the necessary experience of managing the presence of slower cars and knowing where to pass. And he was in the right car.

“It’s definitely more dangerous for me to sit in a slower car and be dependent on the faster cars,” Verstappen said during his Thursday media session at Imola.

While F1 drivers in previous decades raced every weekend, often in a broad variety of categories – Jim Clark was as fluent and spectacular in a Lotus Cortina as he was in a Lotus grand prix car – the nature of motor racing has changed.

Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, Fernando Alonso, Andretti Autosport Honda

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images

The F1 calendar has expanded, its drivers have become more professional and they no longer need the money that, say, sportscar racing would bring. What’s more, contracts and branding concerns militate against driving cars from different manufacturers.

In the modern era, some drivers have been able to negotiate racing in other categories into their contracts, but the fate of Robert Kubica looms large. Among the most promising drivers of his generation, he was hurling a Skoda Fabia Super 2000 car around the hills of Liguria in the 2011 Ronde di Andora rally when he speared off the road and a guardrail penetrated the cabin, partially severing his right hand.

Fernando Alonso had enough contractual weight for McLaren to excuse him from the 2017 Monaco GP so he could contest the Indy 500, but even that would probably not have come to pass had Bernie Ecclestone still been pulling F1’s strings at the time.

In 2015, the Canadian Grand Prix did not clash with the Le Mans 24 Hours and Nico Hulkenberg took advantage of this to race for Porsche in the legendary enduro. Since he raced with Force India at the time, there were no manufacturer clashes to act as obstacles.

But when Hulkenberg returned to the F1 paddock in Austria, widely feted as a Le Mans winner, there were ructions at the top. Ecclestone found all the attention directed towards the world of sportscars and the then-new World Endurance Championship commercially vexatious and bothersome.

As such, Hulkenberg was duly summoned to the ‘Bernie Bus’, instructed to put a sock in it, and emerged from the smoked-glass environs of Ecclestone’s cloister with rather less of a spring in his step.

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