Max Verstappen celebrates a dominant victory at the Nürburgring – but hours later he is disqualified: A team mistake ensures the bitter end
Splendid performance on the track, drama afterwards: Max Verstappen impressed in sporting terms at his first start of the season on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife – and still didn’t take a win. At the second round of the Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS), the Formula 1 driver initially dominated the race before a subsequent disqualification ruined everything.
Together with Daniel Juncadella and Jules Gounon, the Red Bull star initially secured a commanding victory in the Mercedes-AMG GT3. Verstappen had already made his mark in qualifying: With a flawless lap without traffic and Code 60 phases, he took pole position – with a lead of almost two seconds.
In the race, Verstappen faced opposition early on: Audi driver Christopher Haase took advantage of the slipstream on the long Döttinger Höhe and passed him. An intense duel developed, which showed the special characteristics of the Nordschleife – with different strengths in terms of top speed and cornering performance.
It was only shortly before the first pit stop that Verstappen was able to regain the lead. After that, the trio largely controlled the race, even if there were still a few battles for position, including with BMW driver Dan Harper.
Clear victory – and then disqualification
On the track, Verstappen left no room for doubt: He extended his lead to almost a minute in the final stint. But a few hours after the end of the race, things took a bitter turn.
The Winward team, which runs Verstappen’s Mercedes-AMG on the Nordschleife, had used a total of seven sets of tires over the course of the race day. However, the regulations only allow six. The mistake happened during qualifying, when pit stops with driver and tire changes were practiced.
The consequence: disqualification. The victory was subsequently awarded to the BMW duo Harper and Jordan Pepper. Team Principal Christian Hohenadel explained: “The disqualification hurts. We would like to apologize to everyone who was cheering us on.”
Verstappen delighted with the “Green Hell”
Despite the disappointing outcome, Verstappen drew a positive conclusion: “The Nordschleife is one of the craziest tracks in the world. I want to drive here as often as possible.”
For fans, this means that further appearances are likely. There are already possible starts in April with another NLS race and the 24h Qualifiers, after the Formula 1 races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia were canceled. His participation in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring in May has been confirmed so far.
