- Verstappen dominates the Nurburgring before frustrating tyre rule disqualification.
- The Dutchman uses Mario Kart references (again) to mock F1’s new regulations.
- Technical struggles and rule frustrations continue to shadow Verstappen’s season.
Max Verstappen’s sarcastic take on F1’s new regulations reached the Nurburgring, as the interviewer asked him about Mario Kart.
Referring to Verstappen’s earlier comment about replacing his simulator with a Nintendo Switch, the interviewer sarcastically asked whether it helped him prepare for the NLS race.
This is because the Dutch driver clearly dominated the Green Hell, initially securing pole position and then later going on to win the race by nearly a minute from his close opponent. Until, of course, the painful disqualification news emerged.
Verstappen’s controversial Mario Kart comments referenced at NLS
After securing a dominating NLS2 win, the Dutchman shared his driving experience, appreciating the team further for preparing a good car, in which he felt comfortable racing. The interviewer then asked him how many times he had trained on Mario Kart for the race.
Intentionally playing coy of his infamous comment, which has faced massive criticism, he added, “I’ve done a lot of simulator work also here in the past few years. It helps a lot when you are a rookie, and you drive here for the first time if you at least know where you’re going, that helps a lot.”
He then revealed that he just went about managing the speed of the car and then appreciated the venue. He also found it lovely to have fans support him and acknowledged their passion for real racing. Moreover, he also expressed his happiness at being a part of the series.
While Verstappen may not have straightforwardly answered the Mario Kart question earlier, he did take a cheeky dig at modern-day F1 during the NLS weekend.
He said, “At least you can drive flat out without looking after the battery.” These comments come amid his continued frustration over the new F1 cars relying more on electrical management, rather than enabling the driver to go flat out.
A bad start to the year
While many expected the legendary driver to rise this season after his comeback fell short last year, the first few weeks of racing turned out to be disappointing.
Since the Australian Grand Prix, the Dutchman has clearly expressed his frustration with the lacklustre performance of his car and also been very vocal about the 2026 rules.
Spectators expected that things would get better in the second race of the season in China, but it got worse instead. Despite Verstappen’s best attempt to push the ‘undrivable car’ to sixth position on lap 46 and score some points, the team asked him to retire the car when it slowed down at the Chinese GP.
Finally, fans got a sigh of relief when they saw Verstappen winning again, during the NLS weekend. After a very dominating win, things again didn’t turn in the Dutchman’s favour, as his team was disqualified due to a breach of the tyre rule.
The team was supposed to only use six set of tyres, but after careful assessment, it was learnt that they use 7, which led to them being disqualified.
