Max Verstappen sent Nurburgring 24 Hours warning as F1 champion named 'weakest link'

Verstappen Racing after NLS2 victory — Photo: © IMAGO

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen sent Nurburgring 24 Hours warning as F1 champion named 'weakest link'

Red Bull F1 star Max Verstappen will take on the Nurburgring 24 Hours in 2026

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Sunday 22 March 2026 18:51

Max Verstappen may have four F1 drivers' championships to his name, but his experience around the infamously tricky Nurburgring has now been called into question.

The Red Bull F1 star returned to race at the Green Hell on Saturday, March 21, capitalising on a break in the F1 calendar to get some vital track running around the Nordschleife ahead of his 24 Hours attempt in May.

During his second competitive weekend at the Nurburgring, Verstappen schooled the field by taking pole position with Mercedes-AMG team-mates Daniel Juncadella and Jules Gounon, with the Dutchman himself clocking the fastest time of a 7:51.751 on Saturday. The trio then went on to claim victory in the NLS2, but just hours after taking the race win, the No.3 Mercedes team were disqualified for exceeding the maximum tyre allowance during the four-hour event.

Article continues under video

F1 HEADLINES: Max Verstappen disqualified after race win as Red Bull ban confirmed

Max Verstappen Nurburgring concerns raised

After being stripped of his second Nurburgring victory, Verstappen can at least take away the positive that he gained vital track experience during the opening-round of the Nurburgring Langstrecken-Serie, something that experts have suggested he is in need of.

Speaking during the NLS2 race at the Nurburgring on Saturday, commentator Peter Snowdon said: "I did place the argument the other day that for the 24-hour race in May, that in that lineup, Verstappen is arguably the weaker link because he hasn’t had 24-hour experience, whereas the others have.

"It will be interesting to see how much he does at night, I bet he will because he’s not going to reject a challenge is he?

"I’m not saying he’s going to be slow or anything, that is the credit to the strength of the other team-mates in that field that he’s arguably perhaps a weak link at night in that car."

His NLS2 co-commentator Jonny Palmer then made the counterargument for the Dutchman, adding: "Yeah, in the real world, but we know full well he’s done some 24-hour sim races and plus his natural talent."

Who will Max Verstappen's team-mates be in the Nurburgring 24 Hours?

Though it can be argued that Verstappen is lacking real-world experience of the 24-hour event at the Nurburgring, the Dutchman had proved prior to his team's disqualification that he could rise to the challenge that is the Green Hell.

The Dutchman raced cleanly and fiercely on Saturday, with team-mates Juncadella and Gounon singing his praises after the event.

Following their initial NLS2 victory, Gounon said: "Max is just so amazing, so humble. I just feel like I have a top team-mate next to me. That’s the thing, he’s just… it’s Max. There’s no superlative for him."

The trio will be reunited for the 24-hour event between May 16 and May 17, where they will bolster their Verstappen Racing lineup by adding a fourth driver to the rotation in the form of Lucas Auer.

Auer is a Mercedes-AMG performance driver who has seen career success in both DTM and GT3 racing, with the added benefit of frequent competition at the Nurburgring, including in the 24-hour race.

And there's more good news for Verstappen; Gounon and Juncadella claimed P3 in the 2022 edition of the classic endurance race with the No.4 Mercedes-AMG GT3 alongside team-mate at the time, Maro Engel. So Verstappen's team-mates have plenty of experience for the Nurburgring 24 Hours later this year.

Red Bull Max Verstappen Mercedes Nürburgring Nurburgring Nordschleife 24 Hours of Nurburgring