24H Nurburgring, 00.00-03.00: Max leads after exciting duel with Engel

Published on 17 May 2026 by Florence Cobben

Halfway through the 24 Hour Nürburgring, Max Verstappen is leading the pack. In the wee small hours of the morning, Max managed to reclaim his lead after an intense, exciting battle with Maro Engel.

Shortly after the #80 car seized the lead from the #3 entry at midnight, Dani Juncadella responded with a strong charge to reclaim first place. Shortly after Juncadella reclaims his lead, both car #3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing and the #80 Mercedes-AMG Team RAVENOL dive into the pitlane. As they exit, Juncadella manages to keep the lead from Maro Engel, who swapped into the #80 Mercedes, taking over from Stolz.

On lap 58, Engel launches a strong charge and overtakes Juncadella again for the lead. For a while, Engel manages to stretch the gap between the cars to around 15 seconds, although ongoing technical issues with the timing screens makew the exact margin difficult to determine.

At 1:30 a.m., Juncadella passes the car keys to Max. The battle between #3 and #80 is renewed immediately as they both headed into the pits at the same time. On exiting, Max trails 6.5 seconds behind Engel, but the gap disappears like snow off a ditch. In no time, Max closes the gap to under a second, and initiated a tense battle with Engel for the lead.

Three laps after their 1:30 pitstop, at the end of lap 68, the four-time Formula 1 world champion produces an impressive move and overtakes Engel on the outside of the Tiergarten. At 2 in the morning, Max Verstappen reclaims Verstappen Racing’s lead.

Engel refuses to back down and soon launches another attack. Max puts up an aggressive defense, and the two make cars contact. Engel briefly cuts across the grass. Despite the hiccup, both cars are unfazed and keep driving.

With just a couple of tenths between them, the two rivals return to the pits together on lap 73. Max stays in the seat, but Engel passes the baton to teammate Maxime Martin. On exiting the pits, Max steadily pulls away from the #80 Mercedes and builds up a 5 second lead. The #34 drives in third place, around two and a half minutes behind.