There are repeated claims on social media that Max Verstappen was penalised with a 35-kilogram weight penalty on the 2026 Nurburgring 24 Hours. This is how that hearsay bought began.
Remarkably, a hearsay persists on social media that the Mercedes-AMG GT3 was 35 kilograms heavier than ordinary in the course of the 2026 Nurburgring 24 Hours. That is full nonsense, because the AMG raced, similar to the earlier yr, with a weight of 1,355kg.
The truth that these 35kg preserve popping up on social media was motive sufficient for Motorsport.com Germany to analyze the origin of this determine. Anybody tracing the declare again in the end finally ends up on the US web site MotorBiscuit, which revealed the headline “Max Verstappen’s Nurburgring 24H Bid Hit by Brutal BoP Penalty” in mid-Could.
From there, this headline shortly made its approach to Reddit and different platforms. Different web sites additionally picked up the story with out questioning it, in order that the 35kg ultimately even ended up on MSN. However what is de facto behind the ominous 35kg?
The determine was taken from the official BoP paperwork however fully taken out of context.
Within the official BoP, the Mercedes-AMG GT3 is listed with a minimal weight of 1,355kg. The McLaren 720S GT3, however, was allowed on the monitor with 1,320kg. If you happen to subtract one determine from the opposite, you get precisely the 35-kilogram distinction in query.
Finally, this was a case of evaluating apples to oranges, as a result of the 35-kilogram distinction in comparison with the McLaren already existed on the 2025 24-hour race.
In truth, nothing had really gotten worse for the AMG. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 even obtained a 0.5 millimetre enhance of its two air restrictors in comparison with the earlier yr to maintain the ageing automobile aggressive on the Nordschleife.
#3 Mercedes-AMG Group Verstappen Racing, Mercedes AMG GT3 EVO: Max Verstappen, Daniel Juncadella, Jules Gounon
Photograph by: Pink Bull Content material Pool
The Stability of Efficiency serves to deliver basically completely different automobile ideas to the identical efficiency stage. As a consequence of its mighty V8 entrance engine and total development, the Mercedes is by nature one of many heaviest automobiles within the GT3 class. The McLaren, with its mid-engine structure and carbon-fibre chassis, represents a totally completely different automobile idea.
So, on no account had been sandbags stuffed into Verstappen’s cockpit simply earlier than the race. Each single Mercedes-AMG GT3 in your entire subject needed to compete with these 1,355 kilograms — it was its customary working weight for the “Inexperienced Hell” ever since its Evo improve again in 2020.
Ultimately, what we see is a traditional social media phenomenon: a uncooked quantity is copied from an official desk, garnished with a splash of drama for simple clicks, and out of the blue a concrete conspiracy principle arises that’s missing any basis.
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