'Verstappen can avenge his Nürburgring 24 Hours defeat'

The organizers of the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring have already announced that the 55th edition of the race at the Green Hell will take place on the last weekend of May. Verstappen, Dani Juncadella, Jules Gounon, and Lucas Auer have unfinished business with the endurance race. Everything was going very smoothly. On Friday afternoon they secured fourth on the grid for the race, and within a few hours they had moved into the lead.

Verstappen drove a double stint during the night and handed the car over to Gounon, after which Auer took the morning stint. The plan was for Verstappen to drive the final stint again, but with three hours to go, the car was pushed into the garage with a technical problem. It quickly became clear that they would be able to go back out for a few laps at the end of the race, but the win was definitively lost.

It’s clear that the four drivers would love to reunite next year to try again, but as Juncadella told GPblog, “everything has to align again,” referring mainly to Verstappen’s Formula 1 schedule. For now, however, it appears that in 2027 there will be no Formula 1 race scheduled for the weekend of May 27–30, allowing Verstappen Racing to prepare for a shot at redemption, De Telegraaf reports.

The organisers, the Eifel region, and the fans are undoubtedly hoping that’s the case and that Verstappen will once again be on the grid for the Eifel classic next year. The 24 Hours of the Nürburgring drew a record 280,000 visitors in 2025, a mark that was then easily shattered by Verstappen’s appearance. This past weekend, 352,000 people came to the Nürburgring to watch Verstappen race.

Not only the fans and the organizers will be happy—Mercedes-AMG will be too. The manufacturer from Affalterbach was more than proud that Verstappen Racing has entered into a long-term partnership, which could mean they can once again field multiple cars to fight for victory next year. “Those 24 hours actually felt much longer than this,” says Sagemüller — Head of Mercedes-AMG Motorsport — in conversation with GPblog.

However, GPblog understands that it is not yet official that the Formula 1 calendar will remain clear that weekend, as the schedule has reportedly not been finalised. There is still a strong possibility the weekend will stay free, but nothing has been confirmed at this stage. This was also reported previously on this website.