The 2026 edition of the legendary Nürburgring 24 Hours delivered one of the most dramatic races in recent memory, with changing weather, heavy crashes, penalties and heartbreak for Max Verstappen and his Verstappen Racing crew.
A record crowd of more than 352,000 fans packed the famous Nordschleife circuit to watch Verstappen make his highly anticipated debut in the endurance classic. The Dutch star shared the No. 3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Dani Juncadella, Jules Gounon and Lucas Auer, and for most of the race the quartet looked set to secure a sensational victory.
The Verstappen Racing Mercedes controlled the race for over 20 hours and built a comfortable advantage during the night. However, disaster struck with just under three hours remaining when the car suffered a driveshaft failure while Juncadella was behind the wheel. The mechanical issue caused further suspension damage, forcing the leading car into retirement contention and ending its hopes of victory.
That setback handed victory to the sister No. 80 Mercedes-AMG Team RAVENOL machine driven by Maro Engel, Luca Stolz, Fabian Schiller and Maxime Martin. The German manufacturer secured its first Nürburgring 24 Hours victory since 2016 after completing 156 laps of the demanding circuit.
Second place went to the No. 84 Red Bull Team ABT Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 driven by Mirko Bortolotti, Luca Engstler and Patric Niederhauser. The Lamborghini crew survived an 86-second post-race penalty for speeding under a Code 60 caution zone but still managed to retain the runner-up position.
Completing the podium in third was the No. 34 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO of Christian Krognes, Mattia Drudi, Nicki Thiim and Felipe Fernandez Laser.
The top five in the final classification were:
Mercedes-AMG Team RAVENOL (#80)
Red Bull Team ABT Lamborghini (#84)
Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin (#34)
ROWE Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO (#99)
BMW M Motorsport BMW M3 Touring (#81)
Several penalties and disqualifications also shaped the final results. The No. 84 Lamborghini received its major post-race time penalty for a Code 60 infringement, while Verstappen’s No. 3 Mercedes had earlier been handed a three-place qualifying penalty following an incident involving Lucas Auer during qualifying. In addition, multiple lower-category entries were excluded from the final classification after technical regulation breaches during post-race inspection.