Max Verstappen result changes as stewards disqualify car | F1 | Sport

Max Verstappen has inherited a position in the final result of the Nurburgring 24 Hours after the stewards moved to disqualify the car that finished second. The decision has come a month on from the end of the race which received more global attention than ever before, thanks to the presence of the four-time Formula 1 world champion.

Verstappen had raced several times in GT racing events on the famous German venue’s fearsome Nordschleife circuit. And, in a gap between F1 races in May, the Dutchman took the opportunity to enter the Nurburgring’s flagship event, the 24-hour race, in a Red Bull-branded Mercedes-AMG GT3 car.

Sharing the car with team-mates Jules Gounon, Lucas Auer and Dani Juncadella, Verstappen looked on course for a debut victory. However, with only a few hours left to go and Juncadella behind the wheel, a driveshaft problem struck which forced the Spaniard to return to the pits where the car underwent lengthy repairs.

The mechanics got it finished in time to get back out on track but hopes of a strong result had evaporated and the Verstappen Racing car was initially classified 38th. That became 37th when a Porsche car failed to take the chequered flag, and now the result has improved further still because of a very delayed disqualification.

The #84 Lamborghini which finished second in the classification has had that result stripped away. The stewards for the race have found that the car, shared by drivers Mirko Bortolotti, Luca Engstler and Patric Niederhauser, had too much power output for the Balance of Performance rules which were in force for the event.

Routine post-race inspections saw nine SP9-class cars pored over by scrutineers in the days after the race and the #84 Lamborghini was the only one of those to fail. The result was subject to appeal but, now that the team has decided against fighting the ruling, the disqualification and the result of the race are now final and that means Verstappen’s final result for his first go at the Nurburgring 24 Hours was 36th.

In truth it will mean nothing to the Dutchman and his team-mates, especially given they were on track to win until that reliability problem struck. It is a more significant outcome, though for Mattia Drudi, Christian Krognes and Nicki Thiim, the drivers of the #34 Aston Martin car, which has now been promoted to second place.

And also for the #99 BMW and its drivers Daniel Harper, Max Hesse, Sheldon van der Linde and Dries Vanthoor, who have inherited the third and final spot on the podium for the 2026 edition of the 24-hour Nurburgring race. The winner remains the #80 Mercedes shared by Maro Engel, Maxime Martin, Fabian Schiller and Luca Stolz.

Verstappen said after the disappointing end to his race that he intends to try to win the event again next year, if there is no clash with his F1 duties. In the meantime, he does not expect to be able to race in any other events at the Nordschleife between now and the end of this year, because the car will be at GT World Challenge races that clash with the remaining scheduled NLS rounds.