Max Verstappen made contact with another Mercedes driver multiple times during the Nurburgring 24 Hours while fighting for first place down the Dottinger Straight. That is the fastest part of a notoriously dangerous track that Jackie Stewart nicknamed “the Green Hell”, where 70 professional drivers have died.
Verstappen‘s team, the No.3 Mercedes, leads ahead of the No.80 Mercedes, after surviving the high-speed scare overnight involving both GT3 cars that led Maro Engel to go off the track onto the wet grass. The latter led through the early stages of the night until Formula One’s four-time champion moved within a second of the front.
However, after cutting the gap during the early hours of Sunday morning, Verstappen could not create a chance to overtake the 2016 Nurburgring 24 Hours champion for over 20 minutes as Engel maintained his advantage lap after lap. After staying patient, the Dutchman eventually made the move and hit the front; however, his rival did not relent and, after benefiting from the slipstream, pulled alongside Verstappen the following lap.
Two slower cars soon came towards them on the approach to Tiergarten and with Verstappen in the middle of the track, Engels, on the outside, ran out of space after multiple collisions between the pair. He managed to keep control and soon returned to the track unscathed, except for losing a few seconds to the No.3 Mercedes.
It left one of the commentators exclaiming: “Oh. My. Word.” Engel, however, had no complaints and enjoyed the battle when speaking soon after the stint, which ended for both drivers shortly after contact with Verstappen.
“I had a lot of fun with Max,” Engel said. “Of course, the Nordschleife is special, a cool place, and driving through the night there with Max was really enjoyable. I hope we entertained the fans a bit – those who were still awake certainly did the right thing.”
Verstappen also sounds like he is having fun during his debut in the endurance race. He said: “The Nurburgring 24 Hours is one of the biggest races of the year, which is why we’re here. We’re racing with a professional line-up, and having me on board is really exciting. This is something I want to do every year – whether with one or more cars – and our main goal is to win races.”
The Red Bull driver spoke in March about wanting to race beyond just the Nurburgring. Verstappen said: “All the big endurance races I want to do, it’s something that when I was a kid, my dad was doing them. I don’t need to be only an F1 driver; I can also do other things. I’ve done this already for a while, achieved everything I want to achieve, so that’s why I want to explore other things, and I don’t want to do them when I’m 40 years old; now is the perfect age to do it.”