Auer reveals Verstappen’s reaction to heartbreaking Nurburgring 24H DNF

The dreams of glory for the four-time world champion and his teammates Daniel Juncadella, Jules Gounon and Auer himself came crashing down around four hours from the end of the race, when a technical issue later identified as a driveshaft failure brought the #3 car’s race to an end, opening the door for their fellow Mercedes crew led to victory by Engel.

Speaking after the race, the Austrian described it as a very strong event overall despite the disappointment of the retirement, adding that he was proud of the entire group and that it had been a pleasure to share the car with both his teammates and the whole crew. Auer also praised the way the team handled the weekend despite the huge media attention surrounding Verstappen Racing.

“It was a very good race. Obviously frustrating, but I'm also proud of our group and it was an absolute pleasure to share the car with the guys and with the whole team. I think we managed everything very well. Obviously there was a lot of media attention, a lot more people, but we really were well organized and at the end of the day, anyway, for GT3 it's amazing what we've seen here.”

Asked about Verstappen’s reaction after learning of the technical issue, Auer admitted the feeling inside the team was one of frustration, although he stressed that everyone involved in motorsport understands how unpredictable endurance racing can sometimes be. He also pointed out how difficult traffic management was throughout the race due to the different classes on track, but overall felt the event had still remained relatively clean from a driving perspective.

Mercedes-AMG Head of Customer Racing Stefan Wendl explained that the problems for Verstappen Racing began shortly after the driver change from Verstappen to Juncadella, when the Spaniard immediately reported an ABS issue on his outlap. The team initially suspected an electrical problem and attempted to solve it with a reset, allowing the #3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 to continue temporarily without losing too much time.

However, the situation quickly worsened after Juncadella began noticing unusual noises and vibrations on the following lap, forcing him to slow down and return to the pits. Once the car was inspected, Mercedes discovered a broken driveshaft, with the failure also causing significant damage to surrounding components and requiring lengthy repairs. Despite the disappointment of seeing the team’s victory hopes disappear in the closing stages of the Nürburgring 24 Hours, Mercedes and Verstappen Racing still chose to repair the car and send it back out for the final laps as a gesture to the fans who had supported the team throughout the race.