Max Verstappen’s bid for victory on his Nürburgring 24 Hours debut suffered ended when the #3 Mercedes AMG GT3 was forced into the garage with driveshaft damage.

In front of a record crowd of 352,000 fans during the course of the week leading to the legendary Nordschleife race, Verstappen and co-drivers Jules Gounon, Dani Juncadella and Lucas Auer had been fighting at the front before Juncadella reported problems shortly after taking over the Verstappen Racing Mercedes.

Mercedes AMG team principal Stefan Wendl said: “Immediately after the pit stop, during the changeover between Max and Dani, we got an ABS alarm. Because of that, we initially thought we had an electrical fault.

"We tried to reset it, and Dani also indicated during his first lap that he could actually handle it just fine. But then extra noises and vibrations started, which meant he had to slowly return to the pits after two laps.”

Wendl confirmed the damage was more serious than first thought: “It has become apparent here that we have damage to the driveshaft, which unfortunately has also caused significant consequential damage to other surrounding parts of the rear axle. Therefore, a longer repair is required to get the car roadworthy again.”

The team will still attempt to repair the car. Wendl added: “We have spoken with Max, we have spoken with the other drivers, and of course everyone is hugely disappointed, especially because they fought for the lead for so long with the #80, the Ravenol car.

“But we have decided to fix the car so that we can go out again in the final stages of the race to show it to the fans," declared Wendl.

Verstappen stars in Nürburgring 24 Hours before late setback

Sharing driving duties aboard the Red Bull backed Verstappen Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 with Dani Juncadella, Jules Gounon and Lucas Auer, Verstappen emerged as one of the stars of the 2026 ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring with a string of aggressive but controlled performances around the Nordschleife.

Starting from P4 on the grid, the #3 Mercedes initially dropped back in the opening phase as Juncadella navigated heavy traffic, early incidents and changing conditions.

Verstappen took over after the first hour with the car outside the top 10 after pit cycles, but immediately began carving through the field with a series of decisive overtakes through traffic.

One move down the Döttinger Höhe straight, where Verstappen passed two GT3 rivals in one sweep, quickly became one of the defining moments of the opening hours. At times he used the grass while threading through slower traffic on the 25.3 kilometre circuit.

The Dutch driver completed a double stint of roughly 2 hours and transformed the race for the #3 Mercedes, building a lead of around 20 seconds by the 4 hour mark.

Verstappen’s Nürburgring debut draws widespread praise

Despite carrying a Balance of Performance weight penalty, the Verstappen Racing entry established itself at the front in a race long battle with the sister #80 Mercedes AMG entry.

Verstappen then returned during the night and early morning hours for another double stint, beginning around 02:00 local time.

It marked his first real world night racing experience on the Nordschleife and again he impressed, extending the lead over the #80 Mercedes driven by Maxime Martin from roughly 5 seconds to nearly 30 seconds.

He combined strong pace with clean traffic management through Code 60 zones and dense multi class traffic, while also surviving a tense side by side moment with Mercedes team mate Maro Engel without contact.

Verstappen handed the car back to Gounon around 04:00 with the #3 Mercedes still leading or firmly in contention in a tight fight with the #80 Mercedes and the #99 BMW.

The #3 remained a leading contender into Sunday morning before its challenge later unravelled with driveshaft damage and rear axle problems.

Even so, Verstappen’s Nürburgring debut drew widespread praise across the paddock, with his pace, aggression and composure marking him out as one of the standout performers in the race.