Nurburgring 24 Hours: Max Verstappen survives early scare to lead after three hours

Max Verstappen has taken the lead of the 2026 Nurburgring 24 Hours after surviving an early scare in his first stint in the Team Verstappen Mercedes.

After a chaotic opening hour, the madness showed no sign of slowing down, with heavy crashes for two cars in the SP9 top class. 

Having taken over from Daniel Juncadella at the end of the first hour, Verstappen came close to disaster on his opening laps, leaping his Mercedes-AMG GT3 and sliding off the track, narrowly missing the barriers. 

On lap 12, Dominik Fugel put his #75 Audi R8 LMS GT3 AMG into the wall at Schwedenkreuz after suffering a right rear puncture. The sudden deflation sent his car spearing violently right into the barrier, with his car coming to a rest some distance later on the entry of Aremberg. 

A 60kph slow zone was put in place to allow for the clear-up and barrier repairs.

On the same lap, Verstappen, who was in seventh place, put two wheels on the grass as he drew alongside and passed the #47 Mercedes-AMG GT3 driven by Jesse Krohn.

With reports of spits of rain beginning to filter through and the second pitstop phase beginning, Thierry Vermeulen took over from Thomas Neubauer in the race-leading Ferrari 296 GT3, but lasted less than a lap before he was caught out lapping slower traffic and slammed into the barrier. 

Maximising his seven-lap stint, Verstappen eventually pitted from second place, but returned to the track in fifth - the lead car to have extended both of the first two stints to the maximum length. 

Unlike rival lead cars, Verstappen remained in the car for a second stint. 

Verstappen dove to the inside of the Sabine Schmitz Curve on Ayhancan Güven in the #911 Porsche 911 GT3 for third place.

Rain had been forecast to play a significant role in this year's Nurburgring 24 Hours, and with 21 hours and 36 minutes remaining, the precipitation intensified on the Grand Prix circuit. 

But with significant portions of the track remaining dry, drivers elected to keep clear of the wet-weather tyres.

With the rain abating, the top three cars were locked together, and approaching the end of hour three, Verstappen made his move to take the lead for the first time of the day.

The chequered flag will fall at 2pmn BST on Sunday.