Christopher Haase was thrust into the spotlight last weekend after his brilliant duel with Max Verstappen lit up the Nordschleiffe. Of course, GT fans needed no introduction to Haase's abilities: this is a man who has won the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa and the 24h Nürburgring (twice), not to mention many other races and titles around the world.
But his scrap with the four-time F1 champion showcased Haase's abilities to a wider audience, demonstrating the incredible level at which top GT drivers operate. It certainly helped to whet the appetite for this year's 24h Nürburgring, which will run as round two of the Intercontinental GT Challenge.
Before that, Haase will be fully focussed on making his return to GT World Challenge when the season opens next month at Circuit Paul Ricard (10–12 April). The German ace is back on the grid after a one-year absence, driving the #84 Audi for series newcomer Eastalent Racing – and he can't wait to get started.
"This is my favourite championship and it's where I want to compete," says Haase. "GT World Challenge is the F1 of GT racing. [Team boss] Peter Reicher's goal has always been to race in this series, but it takes time, especially if you want to do it well. So the team has worked hard to build up, to get better and better.
"Eventually they said, 'Okay, let's try', and I am so happy to be part of it. I feel very comfortable in this team; they're great people and real racers."
Youth and experience for debut campaign
Haase will contest the full season alongside Simon Reicher, with whom he won the International GT Open title for Eastalent in 2024. The former Audi factory driver has acted as a mentor to the Austrian, a role he's well known for in GT World Challenge.
"Simon is a young driver and I'm helping him to grow in the sport, to get better," says Haase. "We have such a great relationship and this is very important. We fit very well together. Now it's time for him to go to GT World Challenge and for sure this is a big task. But in life you need to take these kind of steps to get better."
Given their prior success in GT Open, there was no question that Haase and Reicher would form the core of Eastalent's driver line-up; still, the team needed a third member to compete in the Endurance Cup rounds. They settled on another legend of GT racing, Markus Winkelhock, the man with whom Haase won the 2017 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.
"Peter Reicher asked me if I would speak to Winki, to see if he was interested. So I called him up and he said, 'Are you serious? That's so good!' I went back to Peter and it was settled, we had this awesome line-up.
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"I'm 38, I'm very experienced, but he's even more experienced," Haase continues. "Honestly, Winki was always someone I looked up to during my Audi Sport career, someone from whom I was able to learn something. And this will still go on; it never stops."
It's not just Haase and Winkelhock who are back: the programme marks a return to the Pro class for Audi, which has scored more overall wins across Sprint and Endurance than any other brand. But, with this being Eastalent's first season in the series, Haase has realistic expectations.
"Our aim is to perform well in the first year; if we can achieve a podium, this would be a big achievement," he says. "We all know that it's hard enough just to finish in the top 10 in GT World Challenge. Obviously, if it goes better, we will take it. But we don't have the pressure of needing to win."
“Spa is a crazy event now”
Haase's finest moment in GT World Challenge came in 2017, when he and Winkelhock won the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa alongside a young Jules Gounon. Almost a decade on, he thinks they can be a threat once again in 2026.
"Spa is my favourite circuit on the calendar," he says. "In terms of enjoying your car on the track, it's the best. You have the history of Eau Rouge, Raidillon, Blanchimont, you can have rain on one side, sun on the other side... And the event has developed a lot in the past five or six years; it's a crazy event now."
Haase was an official Audi Sport driver for more than a decade, remaining with the Ingolstadt marque until it scaled back its GT3 programme in 2024. He is now free to race with different brands, though his experience keeps him in demand among Audi teams.
"The Audi is still a car which can perform very well," he says. "Honestly, I wish that Audi Sport would rethink their GT business. People just love this kind of motorsport, where everybody has access. You know, where families can come to the track who cannot go to F1, for example. So I would love for the brand to rethink this."
Finally, then, that fight with Max Verstappen...
"I really enjoyed it,” says Haase. “When you're in the car, you don't think about who is driving a specific [rival] car, but obviously you know. Afterwards, the amount of messages I got was crazy. I realised that it was something special. It means people are interested [in GT racing]. We see it growing more and more at the moment."
Haase is a racer through and through. This year he is back where he belongs: on the GT World Challenge grid, ready to fight.
Did you know...
Haase is the most experienced driver on the GT World Challenge grid. Since making his debut in 2012, the German ace has contested 91 events – 56 in the Endurance Cup and 35 in the Sprint Cup. Should this year run as planned, he will celebrate his 100th appearance at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Incredibly, he has contested every one of those races at the wheel of an Audi R8.
