Max Verstappen says he plans to return to the Nurburgring 24 Hours in the future after a late reliability issue for his car cost him a chance at winning the iconic race in Germany.
Verstappen and his team-mates Jules Gounon, Dani Juncadella and Lucas Auer were leading the race until a driveshaft problem on their Mercedes-AMG GT3 with three hours and 20 minutes remaining put them out of contention.
Juncadella got the car back to the garage but the team needed almost the remainder of the race to fix the damage caused by severe vibrations, so they could complete one final lap at the end of the event.
The Nurburgring 24 Hours was Verstappen’s big target outside of Formula 1 this year as he looks to continue his exploits outside of F1, previously citing the Le Mans 24 Hours as another ambition.
“I like the competition and the endurance style racing where you share with team-mates,” said Verstappen.
“The 24-Hour race here… the track is super challenging, so the whole combination [I enjoy].”
Asked if he will return to the race next year, he said: “I will for sure try. It always depends a bit on my schedule.”
Max Verstappen was making his debut at the Nurburgring 24 Hours (Red Bull Content Pool)
The Nurburgring 24 Hours is one of the biggest endurance races in the world. This year, 161 cars entered to tackle the 15.769-mile circuit which three-time F1 world champion Jackie Stewart once called “The Green Hell”.
Twenty-three different car classes were in action and Verstappen’s team was racing in the top class, which feature the fastest cars – including several Mercedes-AMG GT3, Porsche 911 GT3 R, BMW M4 GT3, Ferrari 296 GT3 and Lamborghini Huracan GT3 cars.
Verstappen had played a pivotal role in getting his car into the lead with impressive daring overtakes in his first stint on Saturday afternoon, before a thrilling fight with the sister #80 Mercedes, which went on to win the race, during the night and into Sunday morning.
Max Verstappen was impressive during his stints at the Nurburgring 24 Hours (Red Bull Content Pool)
Several GT3 drivers, the category Verstappen was racing in, praised the Dutchman for his ability to sift through the traffic.
Verstappen said after his last stint: “My stint was good. Back in the daylight, I was trying to keep it safe while, of course maintaining a decent pace.
“The car was working well and I just tried to stay out of trouble.”
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