Max Verstappen has started his night shift at the Nürburgring! Earlier, the Dutchman already caused a spectacle when he took the lead during the afternoon hours in his first 24-hour race. After midnight, he took the wheel again from teammate Daniel Juncadella, who was driving in second place on behalf of Verstappen Racing. The biggest competitor so far is the #80 Mercedes from RAVENOL.
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After his first stint, Verstappen handed the Mercedes over to teammate Jules Gounon. At that moment, the Dutchman had built a comfortable lead. However, the Frenchman felt less comfortable in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 during his opening laps and dropped back to P4. The biggest threat soon came from the sister car of RAVENOL, which – like Verstappen’s car – is run by the mechanics of Winward Racing. Earlier in the day, several favorites had already retired, including the iconic ‘Grello’ Porsche, the #16 Audi of Christopher Haase, and the #45 Ferrari of Thierry Vermeulen.
Gounon – who later handed the car over to Lucas Auer – was critical of his stint afterwards. “The rain was insane,” he said to the press. “On the medium tires, it was incredibly risky, partly because there was a lot of oil on the track. The conditions were extremely treacherous.” Auer returned to the circuit in third place, just behind the #80 Mercedes of RAVENOL. The Austrian clearly felt more at home on rain tires and quickly fought his way to the lead, although he was soon passed again by Luca Stolz in the RAVENOL Mercedes. Meanwhile, both drivers had already opened a significant gap to the rest of the field.
Verstappen back for night shift
Around 11:00 PM, Auer handed the wheel over to Daniel Juncadella, who began his second stint. The Spaniard had also taken the opening phase of the race on Saturday afternoon. After driving for half an hour in pitch darkness, he took the lead again. Maro Engel, now in the #80 Mercedes, managed to pass Juncadella again. The German then built a small lead over the Spaniard. The gap to the rest of the field kept growing; by 1:30 AM, both Mercedes cars were already more than five minutes ahead of the competition.
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Not long after, both Engel and Juncadella entered the pit lane simultaneously. At RAVENOL, it was just a regular pit stop, while Verstappen Racing immediately took the opportunity for a driver change. The four-time F1 champion got into the Mercedes for his first stint in the Nürburgring night. In the dark, he opened the hunt on the sister team; he immediately reduced the gap to one second.
Lions hunt in the dark…🦁 #24hNBR
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.#nürburgring #nordschleife #racing #motorsport pic.twitter.com/0sYPVoMrbPRead more Nürburgring explained: This is how it works in a cockpit
— ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring (@24hNBR) May 17, 2026
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Also read: How to watch the 24 hours of Nürburgring live with Max Verstappen
