Max Verstappen’s foray into endurance racing ended in disappointment as he was disqualified from victory in a four-hour race at the Nürburgring in Germany on Saturday.
The four-time Formula One world champion, who has said he plans to compete in the 24 Hours of Nürburgring in May, had taken a break from his frustrating F1 season to race in the GT3 class. He secured pole position on the full 24.358km circuit by nearly two seconds.
Sharing the Mercedes, run by the Winward team and carrying Red Bull livery, with co-drivers Jules Gounon of France and Daniel Juncadella of Spain, Verstappen helped steer the car to a commanding win by almost a minute before officials intervened.
The car was excluded for using seven sets of tyres during the race, when only six are permitted. Winward team principal Christian Hohenadel told Motorsport.com: “The disqualification is tough to take. Unfortunately, we made an internal error that left the stewards with no choice but to exclude the winning car.”
Verstappen was sixth in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix before failing to finish in Shanghai last Sunday. He returns to Asia for the Japanese Grand Prix next weekend.
