Nurburgring 24 Hours: Max Verstappen car leads as rain falls in hour six

The No.3 Team Verstappen Mercedes is leading the 2026 Nurburgring 24 Hours after six hours of racing.

At the end of the sixth hour of running, the No.3 car overhauled the sister No.80 Winward-run Mercedes following a pitstop for wet tyres as rain fell harder during hour six.

Having been passed ahead of the stop, the No.3 car, now driven by Lucas Auer, trailed the No.80 out of the pits before retaking the lead early on lap 36.

At the end of hour six, the No.3 led the No.80, with the No.81 BMW M3 Touring being driven by Connor de Phillippi over two minutes behind in third.

Four-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen took over the wheel on the No.3 Winward-run Mercedes at the end of the opening hour of racing.

Surviving a scare early in his first stint, Verstappen had built up a lead of over 20 seconds as he pitted with 20 hours and 30 minutes remaining to hand over to team-mate Jules Gounon.

Gounon left pitlane for his first stint just over 20 seconds clear of the No.911 Manthey Porsche, which had Kevin Estre behind the wheel.

Across lap 25, Estre ripped into Gounon’s lead, pulling it down to under 10 seconds before he spun off into the barrier at Brunnchen and damaged the rear of his car.

Estre, who spun on fluid dumped by another car, suffered too much damage to continue.

Moments later, the No.64 Haupt Mustang being driven by Arjun Maini crashed on the same fluid patch and totalled his car.

Towards the end of that lap, Gounon lost the lead to Dennis Olsen in the No.67 HRT Ford, though the No.3 would be released again when the Mustang pitted.

At his next stop, Gounon rejoined over 20 seconds down on the No.34 Aston Martin of Mattia Drudi, who would stay out on slicks when rain began to fall more heavily as the race entered its sixth hour.

The No.3 dropped to third prior to the Winward Mercedes pair pitting for wets just over 30 minutes into hour six.

As hour six ends, the No.3, with Auer behind the wheel, is just 0.3s clear of the No.80, now being driven by Fabian Shiller.

The No.34 Aston holds onto third, with the No.99 Rowe Racing BMW and the No.81 BMW M Touring rounding out the top five.

Max Verstappen reacts to his first stint as a Nurburgring 24 rookie

Speaking after his first stints at the Nurburgring 24, Verstappen said: “Yeah, it was good.

“Initially, I was a bit stuck in traffic, so it was a bit difficult to clear the cars.

“Once I cleared a few there, then the weather kicked in, we had a few laps of slippery conditions.

“I think that’s where we made the difference. And then the car was good.

“Trying to stay out of trouble, but at the same time you have to push and be on the limit, which is always a difficult compromise to find. But it worked out fine.”