Mercedes discovers the Verstappen effect on Nordschleife rivals

Verstappen Racing has already ticked off one race on the Nordschleife and is now moving on to the start of the GT World Challenge Europe season (GTWCE) and the next challenges on the Nordschleife. In the GTWCE Endurance Cup, Mercedes-AMG Performance Drivers Dani Juncadella and Jules Gounon complete the line-up, together with Verstappen’s protégé Chris Lulham.

During the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring, Verstappen himself is of course one of the drivers, and Lucas Auer joins the team. How has it been working with Max so far? “Fun,” Wendl summarizes in one word in an interview with GPblog. “He is a nice guy and he knows exactly what he wants. And he is fast!” he smiles.

Wendl is immensely proud of his driver line-ups. Verstappen Racing has strong ones in both GTWCE and on the Nordschleife, and so do the other AMG Customer teams.

Winward will field a second car during the 24 Hours of the Nurburgring. Maro Engel, Maxime Martin, Fabian Schiller and Luca Stolz will share the #80 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo and, together with the sister car from Verstappen Racing, fight for the win. Wendl sees that other manufacturers have also pulled out all the stops.

The absolute GT3 elite will face off in May. “Because when you look into the prep races already, all the manufacturers gave everything. All the drivers with Nordschleife experience will come to the Ring. So, it will be epic,” Wendl concludes.