A Max Verstappen masterclass has put his team in contention for a debut victory at the Nurburgring 24 Hours as it leads a Mercedes 1-2 after almost nine hours of racing. 

The #3 Mercedes that Verstappen shares with Daniel Juncadella, Jules Gounon and Lucas Auer leads the #80 AMG (Maxime Martin, Maro Engel, Fabian Schiller and Luca Stolz) by approximately a second.

It has been a manic race so far with mixed weather conditions that are to be expected of the Nordschleife, but the Verstappen Racing Mercedes is going strong with the night stint underway.

The team started fourth but Juncadella took second on the opening lap, overtaking Christopher Haase (Scherer Audi) before polesitter Mirko Bortolotti suffered a puncture.

It came after the Lamborghini was tagged by the #3 AMG at Turn 2, which Abt boss Martin Tomczyk labelled as “not acceptable”, but it was deemed as a racing incident.

Things soon got even worse for Abt as its sister Huracan, which started second, was given a 32s penalty at the end of the opening hour after a jump start for Marco Mapelli.

That meant Juncadella finished his stint in third, having dropped from second to fourth due to troubles negating traffic, with Verstappen jumping aboard the Mercedes after 60 minutes.

This is where Verstappen Racing truly put itself in victory contention as the four-time Formula 1 world champion remained patient behind traffic before launching attacks.

#3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing, Mercedes AMG GT3 EVO: Max Verstappen, Daniel Juncadella, Jules Gounon, Lucas Auer

Amid overtaking cars which were yet to pit, having joined the track in 10th, he took net second from Christian Engelhart (Konrad Lamborghini) down the inside of Sabine Schmitz Kurve.

Thomas Preining in the Manthey Racing Porsche was next in Verstappen’s sights for the overall fight and after once again overtaking traffic, the Dutchman finally had his man just over two hours in.

He did it by overtaking the 911, which was now being driven by Ayhancan Güven, down the inside of Turn 1 while rain began falling for the first time.

That didn’t affect Verstappen though who was setting lap times that nobody could match, allowing him to finally end his two-hour stint with a 23s advantage over the Porsche.

“Initially I was a bit stuck in traffic,” said Verstappen, “so it was a bit difficult to clear the cars. But once I cleared a few of them and then the weather kicked in with a few laps of slippery conditions, that's I think where we made a difference.

“And then the car was good. Trying to stay out of trouble, but at the same time you have to push and you have to try and be on the limit, which is always, I think, a difficult compromise to find, but it worked out fine.”

His efforts were slightly unravelled though in the next stint, as Gounon simply struggled for pace with Estre (in for Guven) taking 20 minutes to cut the gap to six seconds.

Suddenly, however, the 2024 World Endurance Championship champion encountered an oil spill at Brunnchen which caused the Porsche to spin out almost four hours into the contest.

Manthey Porsche

Although the initial assumption was that Verstappen Racing now once again held a huge advantage, others soon closed on Gounon who was overtaken by three cars in overall contention.

Those were Christian Krognes (Walkenhorst Aston Martin), Schiller and Connor de Phillippi (Schubert BMW) amid a stint the 31-year-old had called "difficult" with rain falling harder.

Thankfully for Verstappen Racing though it managed to re-overtake the Aston and BMW through the pitstops, before Gounon’s co-driver Auer overtook Schiller to give the #3 Mercedes the overall lead again.

But that didn’t last for very long as Stolz, in for Schiller, moved past Auer at the end of the seventh hour though was then overtaken by Juncadella midway through the ninth hour. 

In third is currently the Walkenhorst Aston Martin being driven by Nicki Thiim, while Jens Klingmann (Schubert BMW) and Max Hesse (Rowe BMW) complete the top five. 

Manthey's 'Grello' Porsche out of Nurburgring 24 Hours after early crash

What makes Max Verstappen’s Nurburgring Mercedes different under the skin

To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.

Max Verstappen has reacted to his opening two days of the Nurburgring 24 Hours weekend amid leaving rivals in awe of the four-time Formula 1 world champion.

The 28-year-old is making his debut at the manic event, driving a Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Lucas Auer, Daniel Juncadella and Jules Gounon.

Thursday saw Verstappen set the third-quickest lap time with an 8m18.539s, before Friday qualifying where the #3 Mercedes took fourth behind a Lamborghini 1-2 and an Audi in third.

Qualifying for the top category is split across three sessions - TQ1, 2 and 3 - with teams nominating a different driver for each outing and Auer was first out in the Verstappen Mercedes.

The DTM star finished fifth to ensure progression into TQ2, which saw Verstappen jump in the AMG needing a top seven lap time for TQ3.

He just about did that with sixth, surviving a late scare as the Dutchman gradually dropped to that position from first to finish the session 1.129s off the pace-setting Nick Yelloly Audi.

#3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing, Mercedes AMG GT3 EVO: Max Verstappen, Daniel Juncadella, Jules Gounon, Lucas Auer

But all Verstappen cared about was progression, whether it was on top or in seventh, as it paved the way for Juncadella to then take fourth on the grid for Saturday’s race start.

“I felt comfortable in the car because we were targeting to get to the top qualifying three, which of course is not easy with the competition out there," said Verstappen.

“It's super tough, a lot of fast cars around, but we just managed to sneak in. So the final lap was just good enough and it was nice.

“Luckily it was dry, the car felt all right and we managed to sneak in. So that was the target and yeah yesterday, a lot of changing conditions and for me the first time in the night.

Nurburgring 24 Hours: Verstappen Racing end Thursday in third after rain-affected second session

“Probably the worst possible conditions with the rain, the fog coming in. But at least I got a good first idea of what to expect potentially in the race as well. So that was good.”

This race has long been on Verstappen’s radar due to the gap between the Miami Grand Prix and Canada, which takes place between 22-24 May, and he has taken it as seriously as he could have, entering up to five races at the Nordschleife in preparation.

#3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing, Mercedes AMG GT3 EVO: Max Verstappen

“I think we honestly prepared as well as we could as a team, also over the last few races,” Verstappen added. “And now this weekend, it's a really professional group of people putting their heart and soul into everything. So we hope to be able to have a good result.”

It is such preparation that has left the rest of the grid with admiration for the F1 star, whose presence has taken the event to a new level with tickets quickly selling out.

“It's great having him here,” said Marco Mapelli, who took second in TQ3 aboard the Team Abt Lamborghini Huracan. “How many people are coming compared to the past, it's just a plus. It's just a plus on everything. It's a big respect for this kind of talent.

“It's completely far away from his normal world, but it's nice to see his commitment on this job, his way to approach testing and so on. It means that he's having fun, but he knows that to perform he needs to commit a lot.

“It shows how the level is that you cannot just arrive and bang, make the car first or whatever. You need to be prepared.”

Those thoughts were shared by polesitter Luca Engstler, who reckons it shows the level GT racing is now at especially when the 161-car entry list is completely stacked.

Luca Engstler

Away from Verstappen, there are drivers like the 2024 World Endurance Championship champion Kevin Estre, reigning DTM champion Ayhancan Guven and F1 podium sitter Timo Glock.

Engstler said: “He's definitely someone that I'm looking up to and someone that I can learn from a lot. He's having a massive passion, like a lot of the drivers here, and I think that's why we can really identify ourselves with him.

“It just shows that he knows what we are doing here. I think he never expected to pitch up, rock up FP1 and then send it on pole. He knew that it's a very specific car, it's a very specific race that we're doing here.

“If you see the way he was preparing, it just showed that he's taking it seriously and that's just great to see.”

What Max Verstappen is really like as a team-mate at Nurburgring 24 Hours

What to watch out for at the 2026 Nurburgring 24 Hours

To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.

Ahead of the progress shown in Miami, the opening weeks of the 2026 season had not been easy for Red Bull. While the new power unit surprised some of its rivals in the paddock, the picture on the chassis and aero side initially proved underwhelming.

Moreover, news emerged that Gianpiero Lambiase, Max Verstappen’s right-hand man and also Red Bull’s Head of Racing, will leave the team for McLaren in 2028. His departure fits into a broader trend of key figures leaving the team, something team boss Laurent Mekies openly acknowledged in Miami.

Lambiase’s move to McLaren makes sense - but Red Bull faces another big hole to fill

When Red Bull’s current engine partner Ford returned to Formula 1, Ford Performance director Mark Rushbrook emphasised that the American manufacturer likes to apply a similar approach across all championships it takes part in: not a works team, but joining forces with the best teams in a given racing series.

Since that announcement, however, quite a lot has changed at Red Bull, raising the question of how Ford now views the state of the team.

“I think Red Bull showed their character, what the team is capable of, many times through history,” Rushbrook said during an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com.

“Let’s take last year as an example. Everybody counted them out of the championship, and look how close it was in the end and what they were able to achieve in that. So that was just a demonstration again of what they are capable of.”

Despite the technical regulations now being completely different, that gives Ford confidence for the current season and the years ahead.

“It's the same thing here. A lot of people are saying, well, Red Bull is behind. And sure, that's what we've seen on track so far, but we're not discouraged by that. If anything, collectively we're energised by that because Red Bull and Ford want to be racing at the front.”

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Ford got reassurances from Red Bull about Lambiase’s departure

Besides the regulations, the personnel changes form a second factor. In addition to Lambiase, the team has already had to replace Rob Marshall, Jonathan Wheatley, Adrian Newey, Will Courtenay, besides Christian Horner and Helmut Marko.

It raises the question of how many departures a team can absorb altogether, but Rushbrook says he is not immediately worried on that front either.

“They've got the right people, the right culture. And even with personnel changes, I know that creates a lot of excitement in the media and maybe other places, but I think that's part of the sport,” he said.

“Not that we necessarily wanted to see any of those people go, but it’s about how you react to that.”

According to the American, the latter is more important than the departures themselves: how does the team ultimately deal with them?

“There's always some concern when you see somebody leaving. Why are they leaving? What does it actually mean to the team?,” he added.

“So it's not that it's not important, but you react to those things, just like anything else in racing, or even in life. When things happen, it's all about how you react to them and stay strong.”

Gianpiero Lambiase, Red Bull Racing

In Lambiase’s case, Red Bull still has some time to think about succession planning. Moreover, there appeared to be little chance for the Milton Keynes-based team to keep him on board for longer. Verstappen even said that, considering McLaren’s offer, he “would have been an idiot” if he had tried to keep Lambiase at Red Bull.

Verstappen revealed that the race engineer had spoken to him long before the announcement, and according to Rushbrook, Red Bull did exactly the same with Ford as a partner. Asked whether the American company received certain reassurances regarding how Red Bull will handle this next departure, he replied: “Yes, exactly, for sure.”

“Would hate to see Max go, but wouldn’t change our commitment to F1”

Besides all the aforementioned team members, there is another variable that seems to return every year: Verstappen’s own future.

The four-time world champion has been vocal about the regulations during the opening months of 2026 and added in Miami that his views on the rules have not changed because of Red Bull’s recent progress. Moreover, he said that he wants to take his time regarding the “life choices” he referred to in Japan.

Are we at a turning point for Verstappen – and F1?

“I completely understand the driver's perspective and Max's perspective,” Rushbrook responded. “The drivers, they're the ones in the car and dealing with the technology and how it impacts the racing.”

“But we've seen that the sport is willing to talk about those issues internally amongst the teams and to react to it, and take steps to address it. I think as long as the sport is willing to do that and that we do address those things together, then hopefully everybody is happy and they stay in the sport.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

“Nobody wants to see Max leave or any of the current drivers, because they are part of the personality of the sport. So we want them to be happy, we want them engaged and excited about the racing that they're doing, because that makes the fans even more excited about it.”

But should Verstappen leave after all — either by switching from Red Bull to another team or by leaving F1 altogether — Rushbrook stresses that Ford’s position would not change: “We came to Formula 1 to be in Formula 1 and we chose Red Bull because of who they are as a team, as a culture, not any single individual.

“And again, we love Max, we love the fact that he's racing in a Red Bull Ford powered vehicle. We would hate to see him leave, but that wouldn't change our commitment to the sport.”

To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.