“Max Verstappen was not responsible.” The Dutch driver was cleared by his Nürburgring teammates after the Mercedes AMG GT3 suffered a driveshaft failure while leading the 24 Hours race. Daniel Juncadella insisted the team was “driving very carefully” in the final hours, while Lucas Auer explained aggressive curb usage is simply part of surviving the Nordschleife.
Beyond the retirement itself, Verstappen’s impact on the event became one of the major talking points of the weekend. The Nürburgring welcomed a record 352000 spectators in a sold out edition, with Mercedes AMG admitting Max attracted many Formula 1 fans unfamiliar with GT racing.
Mercedes also praised Verstappen’s extraordinary adaptation to GT3 machinery after switching from Ferrari GT cars to Mercedes for 2026. Stefan Wendl described the four time F1 World Champion’s learning speed as something “very special” and confirmed the brand is proud Verstappen chose Mercedes AMG for the coming years.
Verstappen later admitted he already wants to return to the Nürburgring, depending on his future Formula 1 schedule.