Verstappen’s Nürburgring dream shattered by mechanical failure
Four-time F1 champion was leading by over half a minute before disaster struck
The hype was unreal and so was Max Verstappen’s response.
The four-time Formula 1 world champion had been leading Sunday morning during his 24-hour racing debut at the famed Nürburgring track by over half a minute, sharing a Mercedes AMG GT3 car with experienced sportscar racers Lucas Auer, Jules Gounon and Dani Juncadella, until disaster struck.
Juncadella had just taken over from Verstappen when he had to slow down with an issue affecting the rear-right of the car and lost the lead before pulling into the pit lane. The car had not returned from the garage after an hour and Verstappen's dream lay shattered due to the mechanical issue.
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Coming a week before F1 returns at the Canadian Grand Prix, the Nürburgring race was a "bucket list" project for Verstappen. He's a keen racing fan and has questioned his future in F1 this year because he's unhappy with the 2026 cars' reliance on electrical power.
Despite the obvious frustration, the team did plan to send the car back out for a handful of laps at the end – less about result, more about giving something back to the fans.
“We spoke with Max and the other drivers and everybody is so much disappointed. But we said yeah, let’s send this beautiful car out again at the last two or three laps and present it to the fans who cheered all 24 hours or 20 hours long, and try to bring us to the victory,” Stefan Wendl, head of Mercedes-AMG customer racing, said.
Verstappen had made an immediate impact in his first stint Saturday evening with a fast, aggressive style typical of his driving in F1, going from 10th to the lead with a series of overtakes. At one point, he lost grip over a bump and ran wide onto the grass, narrowly missing the barrier and he was later in a close battle for the lead overnight.
Verstappen was familiar with the Nürburgring after taking part in a series of shorter races in recent months to add to his years of virtual experience from realistic online simulator races.
It was still a challenge unlike anything in F1.
With 161 cars spread out along a 15.8-mile circuit, Verstappen had to weave past much slower cars and deal with constantly changing weather conditions on a hilly track where it can be raining hard at one point and dry at another.
It was also his first real test of night-time endurance racing without the huge floodlights that F1 uses to light up the track.
