Verstappen enjoyed the Nordschleife, despite 39th place: ‘I am ready for the 24-hour race’

Max Verstappen enjoyed his last adventure on the Nordschleife, prior to the Nürburgring 24 Hours. Throughout the weekend, no more than 39^th place was possible for the Dutchman on Sunday. A broken splitter caused his #3 Mercedes-AMG to stay in the pit lane for too long. Nevertheless, this did not hinder Verstappen’s main goal during the NLS weekend, preparing for the 24-hour race: ‘I am now as ready as possible for it’.

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Max Verstappen got back into the Mercedes-AMG GT3 on Sunday at the Nürburgring, but no more than 39^th place was achieved. The Dutchman had a good start, and after two laps was already in second place after starting from fifth. Verstappen then once again battled Christopher Haase, whom he outsmarted after the first half hour of the 4-hour race. Verstappen couldn’t immediately shake off Haase – the eventual winner of the NLS5 race – but after the first pit stops, the #3 Mercedes-AMG’s lead was already almost half a minute.

An hour later, however, disaster struck. Verstappen came in with damage to the front of the car. Due to a broken splitter, the Mercedes remained in the garage for half an hour. As soon as Verstappen’s teammate Lucas Auer could go out, the chance of a good result was already gone. Team Verstappen thus finished in 39^th place.

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Broken splitter

“In the second lap of my second stint, I noticed something was wrong,” Verstappen tells Viaplay after the race. “The splitter was broken. That’s strange, because I didn’t hit anyone, so I don’t know how that happened. We need to investigate and solve that.” Nevertheless, the disappointing outcome of the qualifying race did not spoil the fun for the world champion.

“I did have fun today,” Verstappen continues. “The car felt good, I’m happy with that. I was able to drive my stints, even with traffic, which was quite intense. I had battles with other GT3 cars, so in that respect, it was good preparation for the 24-hour race. I am as ready as possible for it.” However, the Dutch driver still can’t tick one thing off his checklist this weekend: “The only thing is that I haven’t driven in the dark yet. But I don’t think you can do more than that.”

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