Max Verstappen thought he had conquered the Nürburgring Nordschleife once again. Instead, a dream Saturday in the Green Hell unravelled into a crushing technical defeat hours after the chequered flag.
The Dutchman, alongside Jules Gounon and Daniel Juncadella, had appeared unstoppable in the No.3 Mercedes-AMG GT3. Pole position, relentless pace, and a near-minute margin of victory capped what looked like a flawless performance in the NLS2 round.
But the celebrations were short-lived. A post-race inspection revealed a critical error: the Winward Racing crew had used seven sets of tyres – one more than the strict six-set limit allowed under Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie regulations.
In a championship with zero tolerance for such breaches, disqualification was inevitable.
Winward Team Principal Christian Hohenadel admitted the costly mistake:
“The disqualification is tough to take. Unfortunately, we made an internal error that left the stewards with no choice but to exclude the winning car,” he said.
“It was our first outing as a full Mercedes-AMG Performance Team on the Nordschleife, and I want to apologize to all the fans who were cheering us on.
“We’ll analyze every single process today, learn from it, and come back even stronger for the 24 Hours.”
Verstappen: Joy before the fall
Before the ruling, Verstappen had been upbeat about his second GT3 outing at the circuit:
“Yeah, could be much worse,” he said of the race. “Two different cars as well. For me, this whole weekend has been about getting to grips with the car around the Nordschleife, which has been super enjoyable.
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“The team also prepared the car really well, so we could do some decent testing, and it made me feel really comfortable in the car.
“It was a really good experience for me to race here today.”
He had also underlined his love for the circuit:
“Well, for me this is one of the craziest tracks in the world,” he added. “I’ve been watching this for a very long time, and it’s just one of these races that you want to compete in.
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Steiner calls out Verstappen: ‘It’s not the rules – it’s Red Bull’“At least finally, this year I have the chance to do it. It also depends a bit on what the calendar allows me to do.
“I’m already racing a lot. I will try to do as much as I can. We’re looking into it [NLS3]. It just all depends if it’s all feasible. But I’m always happy to race here.”
In the end, the victory was handed to the Rowe Racing BMW crew of Dan Harper and Jordan Pepper, with the Falken Porsche duo of Tim Heinemann and Sven Müller promoted behind.
For Verstappen and Mercedes-AMG, the speed was undeniable – but at the Nordschleife, perfection is the only currency that counts.
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