Max Verstappen hits barrier in battle for Nurburgring 24 hour lead

Verstappen at the Nurburgring — Photo: © IMAGO

Nurburgring 24 Hours

Max Verstappen hits barrier in battle for Nurburgring 24 hour lead

Max Verstappen is on a charge at the Nurburgring

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Saturday 16 May 2026 18:31 Updated: 18:36

Max Verstappen endured a heartstopping moment while trying to get back into race winning contention at the Nurburgring 24 hours.

Competing in a Mercedes under the Vertsappen Racing banner alongside team-mates Dani Juncadella, Lucas Auer and Jules Gounon, the four-time Formula 1 world champion's team had qualified in fourth place for the 2pm race start on Saturday.

Juncadella started the race, moving up to second but then dropping down to fourth after an error trying to attack then race leader Marco Mapelli, who was later hit with a 32-second penalty following a jump start.

Shorlty after and just before the hour mark and seven laps, Juncadella pitted allowing Verstappen to jump in the car, emerging in tenth place at the Nordschleife.

With the challenge of bringing his Mercedes back into contention, the Red Bull driver in F1 almost immediately had a big incident.

WATCH LIVE: Nurburgring 24 Hours: Verstappen bids for victory

Max jumps into the barrier

Before the twisty long straight in the Pflanzgarten section, Verstappen was caught out as his Mercedes jumped over the brow over a hill veering to the right and clipping the barrier, in the process kicking up dust to the closely following Raffaele Marciello in the BMW.

Verstappen though soon started picking off rivals eventually climbing into third place. Along the way he made an outrageous pass for fifth place on the Mercedes' of Jesse Krohn, putting two wheels on the grass and leaving commentators fearing he was pushing too hard in the early stages of a 24 hour race.

The Dutchman was given a bigger boost in his bid for victory when net race leader Thierry Vermeulen in a Ferrari crashed while trying to overtake a rival at Hatzenbach, putting wheels on the wet grass and eventually losing control and careering into a barrier.

Verstappen though crept up to the front two and after a slow zone made his move on the long Dottingher Hohe straight past Ford's Dennis Olsen, before picking off the Aston Martin of Christian Krognes at the end of the straight at Hohenrain corner for the lead as the cars emerged back onto the modern grand prix track.

Following just over 30 minutes in the lead and building up a 23 second gap, Verstappen eventually ended what was a double stint before allowing Gounon to jump in the car to continue the stint.