Nordschleife winner Engel savors duel with Verstappen: 'I was smiling in the car'

It was a very special weekend for Engel. He apologized to the team for the mistake he made on Friday during the Top Qualifying sessions, but made up for it on Saturday by quickly moving up to P2, right behind the #3 Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. On social media, many referred to the discussion Engel and Verstappen had on X a year ago.

It was suggested there was still a grudge, but that’s not the case from either side: “I have to say I really enjoyed the fight with Max,” Engel told GPblog after the race. “It was great fun seeing him push the Mercedes-AMG GT3 to the limit around the Nordschleife at night, and I think it was the same for him.”

The German is now a two-time winner of the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring, having also won in 2016 with the Black Falcon Mercedes SLS: “I think it was special to see Max competing here and obviously he did an incredible job,” Engel praised. No matter how often you’ve done it, sending a car flat out around the Nordschleife in the dark remains special: “I was smiling in the car when we were driving. I just had so much fun.”

The footage of the pushing and pulling that Verstappen and Engel dished out to each other quickly went viral on social media. Engel sees the enormous impact of Verstappen’s participation: “It's amazing to see. Last year we had 280,000 spectators here and this year sell out with over 350,000, I think in large thanks to Max.”

Mercedes-AMG Motorsport would have loved to see the #3 and #80 come home one-two. That would also have been the best result since 2016, when Mercedes finished P1 and P4. Unfortunately, that couldn’t happen this year due to a technical problem with the Verstappen Racing Mercedes. The driveshaft failed, which then caused further damage. They repaired the car and sent it back out for the final laps.

They wanted to do that for the fans and so they could directly check whether the problem was resolved. Teammates Dani Juncadella and Jules Gounon are gearing up for the prologue of the 24 Hours of Spa later in June. Verstappen will soon head to Canada for the resumption of the Formula 1 season.