Max Verstappen’s Dominance in Nurburgring 24 Hours
Max Verstappen delivered a masterclass performance that has put his team in a strong position to claim their first victory at the Nurburgring 24 Hours. The #3 Mercedes, shared by Verstappen, Daniel Juncadella, Jules Gounon, and Lucas Auer, is currently leading the race with a margin of about a second over the #80 AMG driven by Maxime Martin, Maro Engel, Fabian Schiller, and Luca Stolz.
The race has been intense, with unpredictable weather conditions typical of the Nordschleife. Despite this, the Verstappen Racing Mercedes has shown remarkable consistency as the night stint continues.
Starting in fourth place, the team made a strong move early on. Juncadella took second on the opening lap by overtaking Christopher Haase (Scherer Audi) before polesitter Mirko Bortolotti suffered a puncture. This incident occurred after the Lamborghini was tagged by the #3 AMG at Turn 2, which Abt boss Martin Tomczyk described as “not acceptable.” However, it was classified as a racing incident.
Things became even more challenging for Abt when its sister Huracan, which started in second place, received a 32-second penalty at the end of the first hour due to a jump start by Marco Mapelli. This allowed Juncadella to finish his stint in third, having dropped from second to fourth due to traffic issues. Verstappen then took over the Mercedes after 60 minutes, marking a turning point for the team.
Verstappen demonstrated patience and skill during his stint, navigating through traffic before launching attacks on other competitors. He overtook Christian Engelhart (Konrad Lamborghini) down the inside of Sabine Schmitz Kurve, despite the track being filled with cars that had not yet pitted.
Thomas Preining in the Manthey Racing Porsche was next in Verstappen’s sights. After another round of overtaking traffic, the Dutch driver finally managed to pass the 911, now driven by Ayhancan Güven, down the inside of Turn 1 as rain began to fall for the first time. This did not hinder Verstappen, who set lap times that no one could match, ending his two-hour stint with a 23-second lead over the Porsche.
“Initially I was a bit stuck in traffic,” said Verstappen, “so it was a bit difficult to clear the cars. But once I cleared a few of them and then the weather kicked in with a few laps of slippery conditions, that’s I think where we made a difference. And then the car was good. Trying to stay out of trouble, but at the same time you have to push and you have to try and be on the limit, which is always, I think, a difficult compromise to find, but it worked out fine.”
However, the team faced some challenges in the next stint. Gounon struggled with pace, and Estre (in for Guven) managed to cut the gap to six seconds within 20 minutes. A significant setback came when the 2024 World Endurance Championship champion encountered an oil spill at Brunnchen, causing the Porsche to spin out almost four hours into the race.
Although it seemed like Verstappen Racing would gain a significant advantage, other teams closed in on Gounon, who was overtaken by three cars in overall contention. These included Christian Krognes (Walkenhorst Aston Martin), Schiller, and Connor de Phillippi (Schubert BMW) amid a difficult stint marked by heavy rain.
Despite these challenges, Verstappen Racing managed to re-overtake the Aston and BMW through strategic pit stops. Gounon’s co-driver Auer overtook Schiller to regain the overall lead for the #3 Mercedes. However, this lead was short-lived as Stolz, in for Schiller, moved past Auer at the end of the seventh hour, only to be overtaken by Juncadella midway through the ninth hour.
Currently in third place is the Walkenhorst Aston Martin driven by Nicki Thiim, while Jens Klingmann (Schubert BMW) and Max Hesse (Rowe BMW) complete the top five. The race continues to be a thrilling contest, with Verstappen and his team showing incredible resilience and skill throughout.
