Mercedes-AMG ended a decade long wait for victory at the ADAC Ravenol Nürburgring 24 Hours on Sunday after Maro Engel guided the #80 Mercedes AMG GT3 to victory in a dramatic race overshadowed by heartbreak for Max Verstappen on his 24H debut.

Engel shared the winning Ravenol Mercedes AMG GT3 with Luca Stolz, Fabian Schiller and Maxime Martin as the German manufacturer secured its first victory in the Eifel endurance classic since 2016.

The result came after Verstappen’s dominant #3 Verstappen Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 suffered a late driveshaft failure with just under 3 and a half hours remaining while leading comfortably.

Verstappen, sharing with Lucas Auer, Jules Gounon and Daniel Juncadella, had controlled much of the race after charging to the front early Saturday evening.

“It was good,” Verstappen said after his stint on Sunday morning, when Verstappen Racing was still leading. “Back in the daylight, trying to stay safe while still maintaining good pace and staying out of trouble. It felt good, the car was working well.”

On driving a GT3 car, Max said: “The competition, endurance style racing with teammates. A 24-hour race, especially here, is incredibly challenging. That whole combination.”

Will the four time Formula 1 World Champion be back? “I will for sure try, but it also depends on my calendar.”

Record cowds for 54th edition of the legendary race

A record crowd of 352,000 spectators attended the 54th running of the race across the four day event.

The two Mercedes AMG entries emerged as the class of the field after perfectly timing pit stops ahead of one of Saturday evening’s heavier rain showers.

From that point the #3 and #80 Mercedes controlled the race in formation, opening a lead of several minutes over the chasing pack.

At one stage Verstappen and Engel even made contact at top speed on the Döttinger Höhe straight before both drivers backed off slightly to maintain a safer margin between the cars.

The balance of power changed dramatically when Juncadella was forced into the pits with the late driveshaft issue on the #3 Mercedes, ending Verstappen Racing’s hopes of a sensational debut victory.

Only late in the race did the repaired car return to the track, receiving huge applause from fans who had followed Verstappen throughout the weekend.

“That wasn’t the weather I had hoped for in the final half hour, but that’s the Nürburgring,” Engel said after taking the chequered flag. Many thanks to the team for preparing the car perfectly again after my mistake."

Rain gamble decided race

"I also feel sorry for the sister car. I think both cars were very fast. After 10 years, we’re back on top. We worked for so long and it just never seemed to come together," added Engel.

The winning #80 Mercedes had started only 25th after Engel crashed in Top Qualifying 3 on Friday, forcing the team into a major recovery drive.

“Starting from 25th was far from ideal,” Schiller said. “But at the 24h Nürburgring, it is not always about where you start. “Thanks to Maro’s strong stints, we were able to move to the front very quickly. When I got into the car, the rain started to fall.

“It turned out to be the decisive shower of the race and we made exactly the right tyre choice. Once our sister car retired, the fight for victory was effectively over.”

For Stolz, Schiller and Martin it marked a first overall Nürburgring 24 Hours victory.

“Thank God the pressure is gone now,” Stolz said. “Back on top after 10 years. We knew we had what it takes. A brilliant day.”

Martin added: “It was my 15th time here at the Nürburgring. I had already finished second 3 times, and now I finally did it. A dream come true for me. My father won here, and now I have too. Fantastic.”

Lamborghini and Aston Martin battle to the finish

The fight for second place went down to the final lap after the pole sitting Abt Lamborghini #84 received an 86 second post race penalty for speeding under Code 60 conditions.

Mirko Bortolotti pushed flat out in the closing stages to preserve enough margin over the charging Walkenhorst Aston Martin #34. Officials confirmed as the Lamborghini narrowly held on to second He said afterwards: “It is just enough for the Abt team."

“Today is a big day for Abt, everyone worked so hard for it,” Bortolotti said. “This is a day you always remember. It wasn’t the win, but it’s an incredible result when you see where we were after the first lap.”

The Walkenhorst Aston Martin of Christian Krognes, Mattia Drudi, Nicki Thiim and Felipe Fernandez Laser completed the podium for Aston Martin’s first Nürburgring 24 Hours podium finish.

“I’m completely surprised,” Thiim said. “It’s a shame it didn’t turn into second place because of the Code 60 shortly before the finish. But that’s racing. What a show. This race was a lot of fun.”

BMW completed the top five with the Rowe BMW #99 finishing fourth ahead of the Schubert BMW M3 Touring #81, which produced one of the surprise performances of the event.