Verstappen Nürburgring setback
- Max Verstappen's Nürburgring GT3 outing was interrupted by damage that forced lengthy repairs and dropped his entry to P38. - He had briefly led after starting fifth on the grid before the failure forced an early stop. - Stewards at the Nürburgring also disqualified Oleksandr Kosohov and revoked his Nordschleife licence after a serious rules violation during the same event (racingnews365.com) (planetf1.com) (news.verstappen.com) (sportbible.com) (gpblog.com).
Max Verstappen’s latest Nürburgring GT3 run unraveled on Sunday, April 19, when damage to his Mercedes-AMG forced long repairs and left the car 38th at the finish. (news.verstappen.com) Verstappen had started fifth in the second ADAC 24h Nürburgring Qualifiers race and moved into the lead in the opening stint before the setback sent the No. 3 entry to the pits. The team’s official report said the repairs were lengthy enough to turn a front-running race into a recovery drive. (news.verstappen.com) The Sunday race still served as the final major rehearsal before the 24 Hours of Nürburgring on May 14-17, 2026. Event organizers billed the April 17-19 qualifiers as the last full preparation weekend for the main race. (24h-rennen.de) (adac-sport.com) Official race notes said the duel between the Verstappen Mercedes and the Scherer Sport PHX Audi helped define the early phase of Sunday’s four-hour race. The Audi of Christopher Haase, Alexander Sims and Ben Green went on to win after 28 laps by 28.024 seconds. (24h-media.de) (24h-rennen.de) That made Verstappen’s result another sharp swing in a Nürburgring campaign that has already produced both pace and penalties. In March, he and his teammates initially won an NLS race in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 before being disqualified after post-race checks. (espn.com) The same qualifiers weekend also brought one of the harshest steward decisions of the event. Oleksandr Kosohov was disqualified and stripped of his Nordschleife permit after officials said he drove 201 km/h in a double-yellow zone during qualifying on April 18. (racingnews365.com) At the Nürburgring Nordschleife, a double-yellow zone is a danger area where drivers must slow to 120 km/h and overtaking is banned. The DMSB’s 2026 circuit appendix also says a DMSB Permit Nordschleife, or DPN, is mandatory for approved competition on the track. (dmsb.de) Saturday’s first qualifiers race had already been overshadowed by a fatal multi-car crash, and organizers said the weekend ended the build-up to May’s 24-hour race. Verstappen now heads into that race with the speed to lead at the front, but with one more Nürburgring weekend that turned on damage and steward calls instead of a result. (24h-media.de) (24h-rennen.de)
