ADAC Ravenol 24h Race · Nürburgring Nordschleife · 16–17 May 2026
The Stage is Set
There are few places in motorsport that demand respect quite like the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Twenty-five kilometres of undulating, unpredictable, unforgiving asphalt carved through the Eifel mountains of Germany. Over 300 corners. Blind crests. Sudden weather changes. Barriers that offer no forgiveness. The locals call it the Green Hell, and the name has never felt more apt than during the 54th running of the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring.
The 2026 edition was always going to be something special. A record crowd of 352,000 descended on the Eifel region, drawn in no small part by a story that had captured the imagination of motorsport fans far beyond the traditional GT racing audience. Four-time Formula 1 World Champion Max Verstappen was making his race debut on the Nordschleife, sharing the #3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Daniel Juncadella, Jules Gounon, and Lucas Auer.
What followed was 24 hours of drama, heartbreak, wheel-to-wheel combat, weather chaos, penalties, and ultimately, a story of redemption for one of endurance racing’s most beloved characters.
Verstappen Arrives at the Green Hell
From the moment Verstappen’s entry was confirmed, the Nürburgring 24 Hours transcended its usual audience. The four-time champion had gone through the full licence-earning process required to compete on the Nordschleife — no shortcuts, no special treatment — and arrived at the race with a genuine commitment to the challenge.
161 cars were scheduled to run in the race, the largest entry list since 2014, and the #3 Red Bull-liveried Mercedes sat among them as one of the most scrutinised entries in the field.
The opening laps immediately set the tone. Shortly after the start, Verstappen lost control of his Mercedes-AMG GT3 and ended up dangerously close to the barriers after running onto the grass. A shot across the bows from the Nordschleife, reminding the world champion exactly where he was. He gathered it, pressed on, and went to work.
When Verstappen eventually climbed aboard in the early hours, the Nordschleife lit up. He came alive in the mixed conditions, carving through the field from 10th place into the race lead with a series of aggressive overtakes despite surviving a huge scare after nearly losing the rear of the car in the damp. It was the kind of display that reminds you that truly great racing drivers are great regardless of the machinery.
He immediately went on the attack against Maro Engel in the sister #80 Mercedes, the two fighting wheel-to-wheel for the lead while weaving through lapped traffic. Verstappen completed the move on the Döttinger Höhe straight, though the battle included a scary moment when contact between the two Mercedes sent Engel briefly onto the grass.
After the halfway mark, Verstappen ended his stint with a 23-second lead. The dream was very much alive.
The Night Shift
Through the small hours, the race became a demonstration of Mercedes-AMG strength. The Winward Racing team got its tyre calls right while others lost their heads in the chaos of the rain showers, building a comfortable one-two with the #3 and #80 cars. Fabian Schiller described the early tyre decisions as the “basis for the win,” as it allowed them to focus purely on their own race from that point onwards.
Rivals fell away one by one. Kevin Estre crashed the Manthey Porsche following an oil spill at Brünnchen, eliminating one of the pre-race favourites. Penalties accumulated across the field. The Nordschleife, true to its reputation, extracted its toll from anyone who pushed too hard or made a single mistake.
By dawn, Verstappen Racing held a lead of over 30 seconds. With around four hours to go, it appeared the most famous first-time winner in Nürburgring 24 Hours history was about to be crowned.
Heartbreak With Three Hours to Go
Motorsport, as ever, had other ideas.
Juncadella received an ABS alarm, which he initially thought he could manage, but then noises and vibrations emerged from the cockpit. He brought the #3 car into the pits two laps later. Mercedes diagnosed the issue as a right-rear driveshaft failure with just over three hours remaining. The race was over for Verstappen Racing. MotorsportPit Debrief
With around four hours remaining, the driveshaft issue brought the Dutchman’s team’s hopes to a heartbreaking end. A car that had led for the vast majority of the race, driven by one of the most compelling figures in world motorsport, was pushed into the garage. The Nordschleife had claimed another victim. GPblog
Engel, Stolz, Schiller & Martin: A Worthy Victory
Into the lead swept the sister #80 Mercedes-AMG GT3 — the car that had started 25th on the grid after Maro Engel crashed during qualifying — and it never looked back.
Maro Engel, Maxime Martin, Fabian Schiller, and Luca Stolz won the 2026 ADAC Ravenol Nürburgring 24 Hours, marking the first overall victory for Mercedes-AMG at the event since 2016.
The personal stories within that winning crew are worth savouring. Engel bounced back from his qualifying crash to repeat his 2016 victory — the one driver present across both the 2016 and 2026 winning crews. For Schiller, it was his first major endurance triumph after numerous near-misses, including a second-place finish in 2022. Maxime Martin, the Belgian veteran, finally clinched his first overall Nürburgring 24 Hours win after no fewer than four second-place finishes earlier in his career. And Luca Stolz added a Nürburgring victory to his two outright Bathurst 12 Hours wins, becoming one of endurance racing’s most decorated talents.
Martin acknowledged the bittersweet nature of the result: “It was a hard but fair battle with our sister car from the moment the rain came. It’s a shame and I’m truly very sorry for the other car; I know all too well what it feels like to be set back by a technical issue. But this time luck was on our side, and once we were in the lead, we simply brought it home safely.” The Race
The Final Order
Second place went to the #84 Red Bull Team ABT Lamborghini Huracán GT3 of Mirko Bortolotti, Luca Engstler, and Patric Niederhauser, though not without drama of their own — the Lamborghini had suffered a puncture on the opening lap and also incurred a time penalty late in the race, but managed to hold on ahead of the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 in third.
Elsewhere in the field, the fan-favourite #33 Dacia Logan somehow completed the race, delighting the enormous crowd in the way only the Nürburgring can produce.
A Weekend to Remember
Whatever your feelings on the result, the 2026 Nürburgring 24 Hours delivered everything that makes this race unlike anything else in the motorsport calendar. A record crowd, a global superstar making his debut, a dominant lead car crumbling in the final hours, and a worthy crew of endurance specialists rising from 25th on the grid to the top step of the podium.
Engel, beaming on the podium, summed it up perfectly: “It’s been absolutely incredible what’s been happening here. I think the Nürburgring has been the motorsports capital of the world this weekend.”
He wasn’t wrong. The Green Hell gave us everything — and then took it away for some, and gifted it to others. That’s the Nürburgring 24 Hours. That’s why we love it.
Results: 1st — #80 Mercedes-AMG GT3 (Engel / Stolz / Schiller / Martin) · 2nd — #84 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 (Bortolotti / Engstler / Niederhauser) · 3rd — #34 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3
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