Max Verstappen declares “unfinished business” at Nurburgring 24 Hours

Max Verstappen is plotting a return to the Nurburgring 24 Hours, after late-race heartbreak left the four-time Formula 1 world champion with "unfinished business". 

Having started from fourth on the grid in last weekend's endurance race, Verstappen and his team-mates took just a few hours to climb into the lead. Having held the position through the night and most of the morning, disaster struck with three hours remaining, shortly after the Dutchman ended a double stint, with a wheel bearing issue causing a driveshaft failure.

While the car was able to return to the track for the final couple of laps, it dropped to 38th place.

Asked about the weekend by Crash.net, Verstappen said: “I think overall it was just a great week, I enjoyed it a lot.

"Of course, it was my first big endurance race, and everything went really well. We had the car in a good shape, I think we executed it very well. 

"Unfortunately, it’s still a mechanical sport at the end of the day, and we had that failure, which of course cost us the win because we had everything under control up until that point. But the whole experience, driving in the wet, changing conditions, sharing it with my team-mates, was something that I really enjoyed.”

In contesting the Nurburgring 24 Hours, Verstappen joined the exclusive club of modern F1 drivers to have contested high-profile events during a season, with Fernando Alonso having missed the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix to compete in the Indianapolis 500, and Nico Hulkenberg having won the 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours with Porsche.

“It’s a different discipline. I enjoyed a lot and it’s something I always wanted to do," added Verstappen.

"Outside of Formula 1, there’s a lot of other racing you can do and that one was definitely on my list. If you look at the onboards, I think you can understand why. 

"It’s brutal and very exciting. It’s something we prepared for for a very long time, and we managed to get it together for that weekend, which of course was really cool. It’s something I would like to keep doing.”

As for whether Verstappen will continue with GT racing and return to the Nurburgring 24 Hours, he said: "I do feel, of course, like there’s a bit of unfinished business. I want to win it, so I want to go back. But of course, the calendar needs to allow it. It’s definitely a race I want to do more often.”