Max Verstappen has been disqualified from his victory at the Nurburgring Nordschleife after his team used seven sets of tyres, exceeding the permitted six-set limit for race day. The four-time Formula 1 world champion, driving a Mercedes-AMG GT3 alongside Daniel Juncadella and Jules Gounon, had finished over a minute ahead of the nearest rivals in the second round of the Nurburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS).
Following the disqualification, the win was awarded to the Rowe Racing pair of Don Harper and Jordan Pepper. Verstappen Racing issued a statement saying: 'Tough outcome, but we keep moving. A lot to take from the weekend and plenty to look forward to.'
Mercedes-AMG customer racing head Stefan Wendl expressed disappointment, stating: 'The disappointment was all the greater when we realised that we had made a mistake behind the scenes that morning and the race organisers were forced to disqualify the winning car. That hurts, and naturally everyone involved is very disappointed.'
Verstappen is expected to return to the Nurburgring for the 24 Hours of Nurburgring in May, and has not ruled out competing in the next NLS round next month, citing a gap in his schedule due to the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix.
