Max Verstappen disqualified from Nurburgring race hours after huge win

Verstappen in his race suit and helmet with a black and white Nurburgring background with a red disqualified stamp over the image — Photo: © IMAGO

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Max Verstappen disqualified from Nurburgring race hours after huge win

Verstappen's fun at the Nurburgring has been spoiled

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Saturday 21 March 2026 20:52 Updated: 22:06

Four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen has been disqualified just hours after storming to victory with the Winward Mercedes-AMG team on Saturday at the Nurburgring.

The F1 star swapped his Red Bull for a Mercedes-AMG GT3 this weekend, in a much-needed break for the Dutchman who has been so critical of the new chassis and power unit regulations in F1.

So, in order to get some vital experience in the Nurburgring Langstrecken Serie (NLS) ahead of his Nurburgring 24 Hours attempt in May, Verstappen spent a weekend away from the busy F1 calendar competing in Germany.

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But after a glorious return to the Green Hell where he took pole position and initially, the NLS2 race win, the Dutchman's day was brought to a shocking end after it was announced that he and team-mates Dani Juncadella and Jules Gounon had been disqualified over a tyre rule breach.

Verstappen stripped of Nurburgring victory after Mercedes rule breach

The GT3 team that helped Verstappen secure his second Nurburgring victory has now been disqualified for exceeding the maximum tyre allowance.

After Saturday's race, the Winward Mercedes-AMG team were found to have used seven sets of tyres instead of the maximum six, with the race stewards intervening and stripping Verstappen and the No.3 car of the race win due to the violation of the regulations.

Winward Team Principal Christian Hohenadel released a statement following the devastating result, explaining: "The disqualification is tough to take. Unfortunately, we made an internal error that left the stewards with no choice but to exclude the winning car.

"It was our first outing as a full Mercedes-AMG Performance Team on the Nordschleife, and I want to apologise to all the fans who were cheering us on."

"We’ll analyse every single process today, learn from it, and come back even stronger for the 24 Hours."

Although Verstappen, Juncadella and Gounon managed to stay nearly a minute ahead of the runners-up in Saturday's four-hour race, the win has now been handed to the No.99 Rowe Racing BMW duo of Dan Harper and Jordan Pepper, with the finishing cars all being promoted up a place after Mercedes were stripped of victory.

F1 Max Verstappen Mercedes Nürburgring Nurburgring Nordschleife