'Freak' Max Verstappen left Mercedes stunned: 'They were pissed off'

Max Verstappen's pursuit of perfection has been highlighted by racing driver Renger van der Zande, who stated his demands went as far as leaving Mercedes “pissed off”.

Verstappen has had several GT outings across the last year, with his competitive sessions coming at the Nordschleife - including the famous Nurburgring 24 Hours earlier this year.

The four-time entered the Norschleife event driving a Mercedes-AMG GT3 car, with his 24-hour outing ending in retirement.

Verstappen has long voiced his affection for endurance racing and the unique challenges it poses, and it seems that the 28-year-old did not have a relaxed approach to his recent appearances. 

"I spoke to someone at Le Mans who is very closely involved with Max’s GT program at the Nordschleife,” van der Zande told Ziggo Sport.

“That person said, ‘He’s a freak. He goes to extremes to really squeeze every last bit out of people, technology, and even the shock absorbers'.

“At one point, Max showed up with a box of shock absorbers he’d gotten from someone he knows in France. 

“Then he said, 'We’re going to race with these shock absorbers'. 

“So AMG was totally pissed off: ‘We don’t want this, because we normally drive with - I’ll just say - Bilstein', or a German brand in any case.”

Van der Zande, a GT racing veteran, stated the work ethic from Verstappen mirrors that of his father Jos.

"He’s just like his father,” he said. 

“You could call Jos on a Friday during a karting weekend and say, ‘They have a carburettor in southern Italy that’s half a tenth faster'. 

“Then Jos would get in the car in the middle of the night to pick up that carburettor. Max is just like that. It’s just in the family, getting the most out of everything.”