Max Verstappen was overtaken by SEVEN cars at the very start of his GT racing debut - but there was a perfectly good reason for his surprising start.
The Dutchman picked up his 66th career victory in Formula One last Sunday, churning in an excellent performance to leave McLaren pair Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to win the Monza Grand Prix.
The next date in the F1 calendar is the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku on 21 September but Verstappen has been keeping himself busy.
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On Saturday, he tried his hand at endurance racing at Nurburgring Nordschleife, Germany - fulfilling a goal of his by competing in the 65th ADAC ACAS Cup, round seven of the Nurburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS)
But while the four-time F1 world champion raced the fastest ever lap at Monza, he was a little slow out of the traps in as a slew of cars overtook him prior to the very first turn.
Verstappen raced in a Porsche Cayman GT4 #980 in Red Bull colours and was part of the second group.
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Footage doing the rounds on social media showed him dropping behind a number of vehicles - much to the surprise of many who are used to seeing him turning on the jets with turn one approaching.
Why is Verstappen's car so slow?
However, there is a perfectly good reason for it as Verstappen is actually racing in a car which is "detuned".
Because he is a technically a rookie driver, his car is just over 300 horsepower - meaning it is 130 horsepower slower than other cars in the same class.
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Typically, the car is 425 horsepower at a weight of 1,315kg.
"You can see Max there on power just looking like he's dropping back but that's simply because he's in that car with the restrictive power for this permit application that he's gone for," a commentator for Motorsport explained.
The restrictions were imposed because Verstappen only received a "B permit" on Friday through a practical and theory section - and to get an "A permit", he needs to complete 14 laps without incident and achieve two classified race results.
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He could get the green light to race in a Ferrari 296 GT3 on 27 September, representing the Emil Frey Racing team for the Ferrari Nordschleife if he obtains his permit.
Despite the disadvantages, Verstappen came sixth in his class and 27th overall - finishing 15.376 seconds in a steady start to proceedings.
He previously set an unofficial record in a Ferrari 296 GT3 back in May, using the name Franz Hermann.
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He will be back with Red Bull on 19 September for practice ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix two days later.
Topics: Max Verstappen, Formula 1, Red Bull Racing
Josh Lawless