Max Verstappen's 24-hour racing debut at Nurburgring ends after mechanical fault

Max Verstappen’s victory hopes in his Nürburgring 24-hour debut ended due to an apparent mechanical issue. He had been leading in Germany on Sunday morning by more than half a minute while sharing a Mercedes AMG GT3 with Lucas Auer, Jules Gounon, and Dani Juncadella. Juncadella took over from Verstappen, then slowed because of a rear-right problem, lost the lead, and entered the pit lane. The car did not return after an hour. Verstappen had shown strong pace in his first stint, moving from 10th to the lead with aggressive overtakes. The race presented major challenges including traffic from 161 cars, rapidly changing weather, and night-time endurance without F1-style floodlights.

"Max Verstappen's chances of victory in his 24-hour racing debut at the famed Nurburgring track have been ended by an apparent mechanical issue with his car. Verstappen had been leading in Germany on Sunday morning by over half a minute, sharing a Mercedes AMG GT3 car with the experienced sportscar racers Lucas Auer, Jules Gounon and Dani Juncadella. 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."

"Coming a week before F1 returns at the Canadian Grand Prix, the Nurburgring 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. F1 has agreed to make engine changes for the 2027 season after the widespread criticism from drivers."

"Verstappen 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 on to the grass, narrowly missing the barrier and he was later in a close battle for the overnight lead."

"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."

Read at www.theguardian.com