Max Verstappen doesn’t do things by halves. When the four-time Formula 1 world champion decided he wanted to race at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, he did not simply turn up and hope for the best.
He obtained his Nordschleife permit, won a race at the circuit on his first attempt, built his own team around a factory-specification Mercedes-AMG GT3, and recruited three of the most experienced GT endurance drivers in Europe.
The result: a sold-out Nürburgring 4 Hours race, a 161-car entry list not seen since 2014, and a genuine shot at winning one of motor sport’s most demanding events.
The most important thing to understand about Verstappen’s presence in this race is that it is not a vanity project. It is not a commercial exercise, a sponsor obligation, or a bored champion ticking off a bucket list item.
It is the logical endpoint of a deliberate, methodical, multi-year preparation that has proceeded with the same obsessive attention to detail that Verstappen brings to his Formula 1 programme.
The process began in earnest in 2025. To race GT3 machinery on the Nordschleife, drivers must first obtain a DMSB Permit Nordschleife, a mandatory German motor sport licence that requires a theory examination and a minimum number of race laps in a lower-powered car under mixed conditions.
Verstappen’s team starts among one of the favourites
Red Bull
That meant a four-time Formula 1 world champion had to complete his permit in a 240bhp Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS. This is far less powerful than the top-level GT3 cars that compete in the NLS series of 4-6 hour races at the circuit.
Verstappen completed it without complaint, sitting his theory exam and completing the mandatory laps during an NLS round before officials signed off his permit.
With his permit secured, Verstappen moved straight to the top-level SP9 category, entering another NLS round in 2025 in an Emil Frey Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 shared with his protégé Thierry Vermeulen. They won.
It was not a gentle introduction – Verstappen had prepared extensively for the Nordschleife through his long-standing competitive sim racing activities, and it showed. The circuit knowledge translated from screen to tarmac with unusual speed.
For 2026, the programme escalated significantly. Verstappen Racing — his own team, receiving Red Bull backing — partnered with Winward Racing, one of the most experienced Mercedes-AMG customer operations in the world, to run a Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO. The car carries the No3 Verstappen uses in Formula 1 with Red Bull.
The second NLS round of the year in March was the team’s first outing: it ended in disqualification following a tyre regulation infringement, an operational error that Verstappen acknowledged the team needed to learn from.
The April qualifier weekend brought further problems. The preparation has not gone smoothly. But the team has accumulated laps, identified weaknesses, and arrives at the race itself with a clear picture of what needs to go right.
The team-mates
Verstappen’s three co-drivers are not passengers. They are, collectively, among the strongest GT3 crews that could be assembled for this race.
Juncadella has finished on the podium twice in the N24H
Red Bull
Dani Juncadella (Spain) began his career in single-seaters, winning the 2011 Formula 3 Euro Series with Prema before joining Force India as reserve driver.
He migrated to sports car racing and became one of the most respected GT3 drivers in Europe, winning the 2022 GT World Challenge Europe title alongside Jules Gounon and Raffaele Marciello, and taking overall victory at the Spa 24 Hours with the same crew. He has been on the podium at the N24H twice.
In 2026 he has stepped up to the Hypercar class of the World Endurance Championship with Genesis. His Nordschleife knowledge is extensive.
Jules Gounon (France/Andorra) left single-seaters early and has built one of the most impressive GT endurance CVs of his generation. He holds the joint record for most wins at the Bathurst 12 Hour with three victories, and has won the Spa 24 Hours twice.
His 2022 title triumph with Juncadella makes this pair an established front-running partnership – they already share a car in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup in 2026 through Verstappen Racing’s 2Seas Motorsport operation.
Lucas Auer (Austria) is the nephew of former F1 driver Gerhard Berger and has built a substantial GT career after early DTM years. He won a GTWC Europe title and came agonisingly close to a DTM crown in 2025.
His Daytona 24 Hours class win this year adds endurance credibility. He is among the most experienced Mercedes-AMG Nordschleife regulars in the current field.
The combined depth of this crew — Nordschleife mileage, GT3 endurance experience, championship wins — is formidable.
Verstappen is the least experienced of the four drivers in his team
Red Bull
Verstappen is the weakest link on pure track knowledge, but he has demonstrated repeatedly that his adaptation speed is extraordinary, and the preparation he describes is not marketing language. His sim racing programme has been a genuine Nordschleife preparation tool for years.
Can they win?
Absolutely. But so can several other cars, and one bad hour in a 24-hour race can eliminate a team from contention regardless of pace.
The SP9 class in 2026 is stacked. Factory and semi-factory entries from Porsche, BMW, Ferrari, and Lamborghini will all be in contention.
The Manthey Porsche operation is typically among the strongest. BMW’s factory programme with ROWE Racing has been strong. And within the Mercedes camp itself, the No80 sister car – run by Winward under the Mercedes-AMG Team RAVENOL banner, with Maro Engel, Maxime Martin, Fabian Schiller, and Luca Stolz – is a genuine threat.
Engel is the last Mercedes driver to win the race outright, in 2016; he knows the track and the car as well as anyone in the field.
Verstappen himself has been clear that winning, not participation, is the target. “Success is winning. That’s why we’re here. I know it’s not going to be easy, but that’s the target for everyone.”
Verstappen’s team faces tough competition
Red Bull
That is not bluster – it is entirely plausible. But the Nürburgring has a habit of humbling the favourites. Mechanical failures, wayward backmarkers, sudden weather changes, and the accumulated stress of 24 hours of continuous racing have ended more credible championship bids than Verstappen’s first attempt.
The Verstappen car’s relative disadvantage is the qualifying gauntlet issue: starting further back on the grid than the TQ3-exempt cars means more early-race traffic to navigate.
In a 24-hour race, a grid position matters far less than in a sprint race — plenty of Nürburgring 24 Hours winners have started from the second or third row — but navigating 160 other cars in the opening hours on a 15-mile circuit adds an extra layer of complexity and risk.
Verstappen’s appearance at this weekend’s Nürburgring 24 Hours has produced a first in the event’s 54-year history: a complete sellout. Here is everything you need to know about the race
By
Pablo Elizalde
The operational question – whether Winward Racing can run a clean 24-hour race after its pre-event difficulties – is legitimate.
The tyre infringement in NLS2 was a procedural error, not a competence failure, but it demonstrated that the team is still calibrating its procedures for Verstappen’s programme.
A 24-hour race is an operational marathon; the teams that win are invariably those that make no errors in the night hours, execute pitstops without losing time, and manage tyres, fuel, and driver rotations with clockwork consistency over a full day and night.
What is beyond doubt is what Verstappen’s presence here represents. An active Formula 1 world champion – the sport’s reigning superstar, competing for Red Bull in the championship while simultaneously racing in what is arguably the most demanding single event in motor sport – has produced a historic sell-out and an entry list not seen in a decade.
Whether the Verstappen story at the Nürburgring ends with a trophy on Sunday afternoon or in the barriers at the Nordschleife on Saturday night, it might have changed the race permanently.
