(Motorsport-Total.com) – Max Verstappen experienced the notorious toughness of the Nordschleife firsthand during his debut at the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring (race report): The Dutchman was comfortably leading together with his teammates Lucas Auer, Daniel Juncadella, and Jules Gounon when a defective driveshaft caused a sudden end.
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The four-time Formula 1 world champion had just handed over the Mercedes-AMG GT3 from Winward Racing to teammate Juncadella about three and a half hours before the checkered flag fell when the first problems appeared on the right rear wheel, starting with an ABS warning in the cockpit, which the Spaniard was able to clear.
Shortly thereafter, vibrations and unusual noises also appeared, prompting the Verstappen-AMG #3 to make an unscheduled pit stop. There, the mechanics immediately began troubleshooting and found a defective driveshaft that had already caused numerous consequential damages.
The experienced Winward team then worked to get the AMG GT3 back on track for the final laps. By that time, however, the leading positions were long lost; in the end, Verstappen and his teammates finished 38th overall.
Max Verstappen with a strong start, but a scare
A tragic result for Verstappen and his teammates, who delivered an almost flawless performance until the unexpected failure on Sunday noon: Daniel Juncadella started the race on Saturday at 3 p.m., handing over to debutant Max Verstappen for the first time after about an hour during the first pit stop.
The Dutchman experienced a scare already in his first lap in the fast Pflanzgarten section when he slightly went off the ideal line and missed the guardrail by only millimeters. Unfazed, the four-time world champion stabilized his pace and quickly made up for the small time loss.
“Yes, we had a small incident,” the Dutchman summarized afterwards with a smile. “I think I turned in a bit too early and then we had that little incident there. But it was okay. You just have to keep your nerves, stay calm, and refocus.”
During his first double stint on Saturday afternoon, Verstappen even worked his way to the front of the field and overtook the popular “Grello” Porsche from Manthey, which briefly slipped on an oil patch, crashed into the track barrier, and therefore retired early.
“You try to stay out of trouble,” Verstappen said after his first stint at the 24h race. “But at the same time, you have to push and try to drive at the limit, which is always a difficult compromise. But it worked well.”
Crazy duel against AMG teammate Maro Engel
The second time Verstappen took over the cockpit of the Winward Mercedes #3 was at night, during which a tense duel developed against AMG factory driver and teammate Maro Engel: The two rivals fought a hard battle for the lead over several laps.
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In one of the fastest sections on the legendary Nordschleife, there was even a contact that fortunately ended without serious consequences for both drivers. In the end, Verstappen had the edge over Engel before handing the GT3 car back to his teammates, who extended their lead during the night.
From that point on, there was basically no chance for the sister car to take the lead again, as both Winward team cars came into the pits simultaneously at every stop, with the Verstappen-AMG’s lead sometimes growing to over 30 seconds. The decision for the win seemed certain.
Max Verstappen “tries to play it safe”
On Sunday morning, Verstappen completed his third double stint, again without problems or incidents. “Yes, it was good,” the Dutchman reported afterwards, satisfied. “I just tried to play it safe and at the same time, of course, keep a decent pace.”
“It felt good, the car ran well, so I just tried to stay out of trouble. On the last lap, it was very close when two cars touched right in front of me, but luckily everything went well.”
“So far, it couldn’t be better, but there are still a few hours to go, so we just have to stay really focused and then we’ll see where we end up,” Verstappen emphasized just minutes before disaster struck.
Defective driveshaft destroys all hopes of victory
About three and a half hours before the checkered flag fell, when the Mercedes quartet around Verstappen was comfortably leading by about 30 seconds, the driveshaft failed. Although the chances of winning were already gone, the team decided together with the drivers to carry out the time-consuming repair.
“We talked to Max, we talked to the other drivers, and of course everyone is extremely disappointed after fighting for the lead with the sister car for so long,” said Stefan Wendl, head of Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing.
“But we decided to finish the car and go out again in the last laps to present it to the fans.” About 15 minutes before the end, Juncadella left the pits again to see the checkered flag. However, the sister car with Maro Engel, Fabian Schiller, Luca Stolz, and Maxime Martin secured the victory.
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