Earlier than the stewards stepped in to strip the NLS2 win from the #3 Winward Mercedes-AMG GT3, Max Verstappen, Jules Gounon, and Daniel Juncadella delivered a traditionally quick efficiency on the Nurburgring.
The #3 Mercedes entered beneath the Verstappen Racing banner accomplished 29 laps on the 24.358km mixture of the GP dash circuit and the Nordschleife. In NLS 4-hour races, reaching the 29-lap mark is a uncommon feat, normally occurring solely as soon as per season on common. Most races final 28 laps.
Often, when a race lasts 29 laps, the lead automobile crosses the end line for the penultimate time shortly earlier than the four-hour mark, resulting in whole race instances north of 4h05m.
This race was totally different. Verstappen, Juncadella, and Gounon clocked in at 4:04:53.328, making the 58th ADAC Barbarossapreis the third-fastest four-hour race in NLS historical past with a median velocity of 173.070km/h.
Solely two four-hour races within the historical past of the collection have been sooner. Frank Stippler and Christopher Mies set the file on the 2023 season finale with a time of 4:03:38.088 (173.961 km/h). It was greater than a minute sooner than Saturday’s race.
Mockingly, the file was achieved by a Phoenix Racing-entered Audi, the predecessor to right now’s Scherer Sport PHX workforce, which gave Verstappen a run for his cash with Christopher Haase on the wheel.
The second-fastest race was achieved by Michael Christensen, Frederic Makowiecki and Laurens Vanthoor within the Manthey Porsche “Grello” on the 2022 season opener with a time of 4:04:28.582 (173.362 kph).
It’s value noting that the 2023 file was set with solely 113 entries within the race in comparison with 125 for the Grello Porsche and 129 for the Verstappen Racing AMG.
Decrease site visitors density reduces the chance of accidents and Code 60 zones, that are normally the deciding consider whether or not a race reaches 29 laps.
4 out of seven laps beneath the eight-minute mark
Verstappen’s private contribution was outstanding as soon as extra. Solely Haase within the aforementioned #16 Scherer PHX Audi might comply with with each gapping the sphere early on.
The German and the four-time System 1 world champion engaged in an equally skilled and thrilling battle, earlier than Verstappen snatched the lead for good simply earlier than the primary pit cease.
Learn Additionally:
The info displays this dominance when wanting on the common lap instances of all SP9 Professional entries as much as the primary cease (the primary 5 to seven laps, relying on the automobile):
Common lap instances (Opening stint):
Max Verstappen #3 – 8:05.636
Christopher Haase #16 – 8:05.768
Augusto Farfus #98 – 8:10.953
Thomas Neubauer #45 – 8:11.012
Maximilian Paul #7 – 8:11.957
Sven Müller #44 – 8:12.140
David Pittard #47 – 8:13.539
Mirko Bortolotti #130 – 8:13.541
Dan Harper #99 – 8:16.232
Mattia Drudi #34 – 8:16.377
Nico Menzel #17 – 8:20.972
Ugo de Wilde #77 – 8:23.671
Arjun Maini #64 – 8:23.833
Lap 3 and 4 had been interrupted by Code 60 zones, however from lap 5 onwards the observe was clear once more. So this checklist adversely impacts these vehicles that pitted after lap 5 and 6, as a result of they’d fewer Inexperienced Flag laps.
To make sure a good comparability, we additionally analysed solely the primary 5 laps. On this window, Haase was really forward of Verstappen and thus takes the lead:
Common lap instances (Laps 1–5):
Christopher Haase #16 – 8:08.134
Max Verstappen #3 – 8:08.178
Augusto Farfus #98 – 8:13.367
Thomas Neubauer #45 – 8:13.823
David Pittard #47 – 8:13.539
Mirko Bortolotti #130 – 8:15.006
Maximilian Paul #7 – 8:15.013
Sven Müller #44 – 8:15.473
Dan Harper #99 – 8:16.232
Mattia Drudi #34 – 8:16.377
Nico Menzel #17 – 8:20.972
Ugo de Wilde #77 – 8:23.671
Arjun Maini #64 – 8:23.833
The info confirms that Verstappen and Haase had been in a league of their very own, with a five-second hole per lap to the remainder of the Professional discipline.
The “F1 Sample” repeated
In endurance racing, races are gained as a workforce. Verstappen has a repute in F1 for utterly dismantling team-mates as a result of they wrestle along with his particular automobile setups.
At NLS2, he wasn’t racing along with his sim-racing associates who is perhaps used to his set-ups, like Chris Lulham at Verstappen’s first Nordschleife outing in September 2025, however with elite manufacturing unit Mercedes drivers.
The inner common lap instances for the #3 Mercedes inform a transparent story:
Max Verstappen – 8:03.111
Jules Gounon – 8:08.580
Dani Juncadella – 8:16.964
Verstappen did 13 laps throughout two stints firstly and the tip of the race. In seven of these laps, he broke the magic eight-minute barrier.
Gounon and Juncadella did eight laps every. Juncadella bumped into extra Code 60 zones throughout his stint than his team-mates and did not handle a sub-eight-minute lap.
Gounon was caught in a battle with Dan Harper within the victorious #99 Rowe BMW who, due to an undercut, discovered Gounon on observe. Despite the fact that it was not a “actual” battle, with the Rowe BMW set for a 40-seconds longer pit cease on the finish, each vehicles swapped positions a number of instances.
Nonetheless, the hole underlining Verstappen’s standout world-class tempo is much more obvious when taking a look at every driver’s private finest laptime:
Max Verstappen – 7:53.552
Jules Gounon – 7:59.166
Dani Juncadella – 8:00.001
Verstappen alone was answerable for the six quickest laps of the #3 Mercedes AMG GT3. Solely then does Gounon’s private finest seem on the checklist, with Verstappen additionally managing the automobile’s seventh-fastest lap (7:59.268).
These figures are spectacular, however additionally they spotlight the acquainted sample from F1. Gounon and Juncadella are among the many finest within the AMG roster and have a whole lot of laps of Nordschleife expertise. However, there may be an obvious hole to Verstappen.
Verstappen’s problem now will probably be to assist dial in a set-up that permits his team-mates to search out the identical sub-8 minute consistency that he can obtain. Count on Winward to dive deep into the info earlier than the Nurburgring 24 Hours.
#3 Mercedes-AMG Group Verstappen Racing, Mercedes AMG GT3 EVO: Max Verstappen
Picture by: Jan Brucke/VLN
Learn Additionally:
We would like your opinion!
What would you wish to see on Motorsport.com?
– The Motorsport.com Group
