Dani Juncadella may have been behind the wheel at the time, but fellow GT3 driver David Pittard reckons it was Max Verstappen’s earlier clash with Maro Engel that led to the #3’s driveshaft failure late in the Nürburgring 24 Hours.

Four-time Formula 1 world champion Verstappen made his debut at the 2026 Nürburgring 24 Hours and was in contention for the victory until the race entered its final four hours.

David Pittard points to Verstappen-Engel clash in Nürburgring failure theory

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The Dutchman played a key role as the #3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 stormed into the lead of the endurance race.

During his first double stint, he overtook the #47 Mercedes-AMG with two wheels on the grass, sliced up the inside of the #911 Porsche into the first corner, and followed that up with a double overtake on the #67 Ford Mustang and the #34 Aston Martin down the Döttinger Straight.

Running behind the second Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 overnight, Verstappen battled Engel for the lead in a thrilling tussle.

Verstappen hunted down Engel to run nose-to-tail for several laps. Having been thwarted by the German, Verstappen eventually seized his opportunity down the Döttinger Straight only for Engel to fight back.

He pulled alongside the Red Bull F1 driver on the approach to Tiergarten, and the two made contact, with Verstappen’s right rear bouncing off Engel’s front left

With two slower cars ahead of them, one driver had to give way. It was Engel who ended up on the grass as Verstappen held firm in the middle of the track.

The Dutchman built up a lead over his rival, with the #3 on course for the win before a late-race driveshaft problem put an end to their challenge.

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Juncadella was behind the wheel hours later as the race entered its final stint, but three laps after pitting, he was back in the garage as the team worked on the right-rear driveshaft of the #3.

The Verstappen Racing entry went from leading the race to taking the chequered flag down in 38th place.

Pittard, whose own race ended on lap 24 when he lost control of the Porsche entry on an oil slick and crashed heavily, reckons the #3’s driveshaft failure wasn’t caused by Juncadella.

Rather, he says, it was already in play when Verstappen clashed with Engel.

Asked for his thoughts on the mechanical failure and what would’ve been going through Juncadella’s mind at the time, he said during the live broadcast: “I think back to what did I do to that rear right that has now caused this?

“And the first thing that keeps coming to my mind is the Maro Engel/Max Verstappen contact.

“That was the right-hand side of the #3 car and you never know. That’s all it takes to fatigue something.”

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