Max Verstappen's Nurburgring 24 Hours Debut Ends in Disappointment

Max Verstappen's hopes of winning the Nurburgring 24 Hours endurance race on his debut were ended by a late issue with his team's car.

The Dutch driver, along with team-mates Lucas Auer, Jules Gounon and Dani Juncadella, was leading the famous race by about 30 seconds with three hours and 20 minutes left when a broken driveshaft forced them off the track.

Their Mercedes AMG GT3 was eventually fixed but the problem cost them any chance of victory.

"It was good," four-time Formula 1 champion Verstappen told his website following his stint on Sunday morning.

"Back in the daylight, trying to stay safe while still maintaining good pace and staying out of trouble. It felt good, the car was working well."

He added: "The competition, endurance style racing with team-mates .... a 24 hour race, especially here, is super challenging."

Asked if he will return to the race next year, he said: "I will for sure try. It always depends a bit on my calendar."

Vertsappen, who is contracted with Red Bull until 2028, was racing in this year's Nurburgring 24 Hours as it took place between the Miami and Canadian Grands Prix.

The race features showroom-style cars taking on the famous 15.8-mile circuit in the Eifel mountains in Germany and the 28-year-old had said it had "been on my bucket list for a long time".

There were 161 entries across 23 classes for the race in what was the largest grid in more than 10 years.

Verstappen's involvement had created a lot of interest in the race, with weekend tickets selling out for the first time in the event's history and organisers saying a record 352,000 attended.

The Mercedes of Maro Engel, Luca Stolz, Fabian Schiller and Maxime Martin claimed the overall victory.

"We had a good start, great stints, the decision for rain tyres at the right moment. We had a two-minute lead over everyone else," said Juncadella.

"Just a dream race, but unfortunately it was three hours too short and three hours too long for us. But that's just the way it is in racing."

Verstappen will now return to F1 and the Canadian Grand Prix, which takes place next weekend.