Verstappen Racing extends lead after 18 hours

Following Lucas Auer's double stints, Daniel Juncadella completed stints eight and nine. The gap between Mercedes #80 and #3 was 2.7 seconds before Stolz and Auer pitted.

Kicking off stints eight and nine, Juncadella was right behind Stolz, who stayed in the car. However, #80 did not lead for long, as Juncadella soon overtook after getting into the car. During the eighth hour, the two swapped the lead several times while slicing through traffic.

While it was rumoured Verstappen could jump in for stint #9, it was Juncadella who stayed in the car for a double stint. During this pit stop, Maro Engel went into the sister Windward Mercedes. Engel was able to build an almost 10-second gap over Juncadella within two laps of Verstappen Racing’s ninth stint.

Around 1:30 CET, Verstappen finally hopped back into #3 for his awaited night stint. This was the first time Verstappen had driven in a race in full darkness.

Stint 10 for Verstappen was spent chasing down Engel and fighting with his elbows out. The fight for the lead lasted for a while as the two fought hard. Traffic was an issue as the two had to weave in between the lapped cars. However, #80 and #3 were not being contested by third place as they had both built a massive gap.

It was right before the halfway mark that Verstappen was able to make a move stick and took the race lead down Döttinger Höhe. Engel was not going to let the lead go easily, and soon after, he went off the track while fighting with Verstappen.

After approaching traffic, both Mercedes cars moved left to pass, causing them to touch. Engel then went into the grass but was able to keep control and head back on track.

Another thing that happened during Verstappen's stint was German driver Timo Glock losing his Nürburgring license. He recieved two penalty points for speeding in a code 60. These two points were added to the two points he already had, putting him over the allowed threshold.

Verstappen stayed in the car, while Engel swapped out and #80 changed its brakes. During stint 11, Verstappen built 15 seconds over Maxime Martin. When it was time for Verstappen to swap out, he had built a 27-second gap for Jules Gounon to inherit.

While Gounon took over when it was still dark, he drove into the morning during his double stint. Throughout this double stint, Gounon kept the lead, even with the Winward Racing team completing a rotor change during his pit stop.

During his stint, #80 swapped drivers from Martin to Fabian Schiller. As Gounon stayed in the car, he was able to build up another sizable gap for Auer to defend.

Auer is also pulling a double stint. As it stands, Verstappen Racing still has the lead over #80. Auer has completed the first half of his first stint and is now in his second. The gap is 11 seconds over Stolz. The two Mercedes are competing directly against each other as the gap to third place, currently held by #84 Lamborghini, is five minutes.

About the leading Mercedes, Dan Harper of the #99 ROWE BMW told GPblog, "They’re just cruising, but things can get mad around here, so we’ll see what happens."

Luckily for Verstappen Racing and the rest of the field, the weather is holding up as the race heads into the 18th hour.