F1 driver disqualified at Nurburgring and loses license

Nurburgring 24 Hours

F1 driver disqualified at Nurburgring and loses license

An F1 star has been ruled out of the Nurburgring 24 Hours

By Kerry Violet.

Monday 18 May 2026 23:00

An Formula 1 driver was disqualified during this weekend’s Nürburgring 24 Hours event, which also featured Max Verstappen making his first appearance in the iconic endurance race.

The four-time world champion traded his Red Bull Formula 1 car for the No. 3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, competing alongside Jules Gounon, Dani Juncadella, and Lucas Auer during his latest outing at the Nordschleife circuit.

Team Verstappen Racing emerged as one of the standout entries overnight, taking the lead of the race while several rival teams encountered mechanical problems and incidents throughout the challenging conditions in Germany.

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Three drivers were even disqualified, losing their licenses for excessive speed in Code 60 zones, along with subsequent DMSB penalty points.

Timo Glock disqualified from Nurburgring 24 Hours

The Dorr McLaren driver was caught doing 112 km/h in a Code 60 zone just before midnight on Saturday, bringing an abrupt end to what would end up being his final stint in the overnight endurance race.

Glock will now have to reapply for his licence, with the British Nurburgring 24 Hour commentators even suggesting the three-time F1 podium finisher could be at risk of having to sit out of future events on the Nordschleife.

Gregoire Boutonnet in the 652-Adrenalin-BMW M240i and Jarno D'Hauw in the 658-BMW M240i also suffered the same penalty. Prior to his disqualification, Glock had shared the McLaren 720S GT3 with Ben Dorr, factory driver Marvin Kirchhofer and two-time DTM champion Timo Scheider, in an entry which wasn't special because of the model itself, but because of the livery.

Dorr Motorsport used the most famous race in German motorsport to pay tribute to F1 legend Michael Schumacher. The McLaren adopted a livery the same colours and, with Bitburger, the same main sponsor as the 1995 Benetton in which the German icon secured his second of his seven F1 world championships.

Glock raced in F1 from 2004 to 2012, driving for Jordan, Toyota, Virgin, and Marussia, but for new F1 fans wondering why they are already familiar with his name, that will be because of the infamous role he played in Lewis Hamilton's maiden championship victory at the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Championship hopeful and home hero Felipe Massa crossed the line to take his sixth victory of the season with Ferrari at Interlagos, doing all he possibly could to attempt to win his maiden drivers' title.

But in a dramatic final lap, Glock began to slow down dramatically due to the track suddenly getting wet in classic Interlagos fashion, conditions which didn't pair well with the German racer's decision to stay out on dry-weather tyres hoping to pick up positions.

Instead, it was Hamilton who benefitted from the choice, with Glock's Toyota dropping down the order and allowing the Brit to overtake him, crossing the line in P5, the very position he needed to finish in to clinch his first F1 championship with McLaren.

Glock's F1 career is now immortalised by the words of iconic pundit Martin Brundle, who delivered a shocked yet excited: "Is that Glock?" as the German slowed down, allowing Hamilton to snatch the title away from Massa at the very last opportunity.

F1 Nürburgring Nurburgring Nordschleife 24 Hours of Nurburgring Timo Glock