The victory lasted only a few hours. Max Verstappen crossed the finish line first in the NLS2 at the Nordschleife behind the wheel of the No. 3 Mercedes-AMG GT3, but race officials disqualified his team shortly after for a clear-cut regulatory breach: seven tire changes in a category where the limit is five.

The team owned the mistake immediately. Team director Christian Hohenadel acknowledged that the error came from within, making no attempt to shift blame to race control. The penalty was unavoidable: the winning car was stripped from the results, and the victory was handed to Dan Harper and Jordan Pepper, drivers of the ROWE Racing No. 99 BMW.

On track, the four-time Formula 1 World Champion had delivered a commanding performance. During the final stage of the race, Verstappen stretched the gap to two seconds over his closest rivals — a display of pace that ultimately couldn’t be converted into a trophy. Still, the disqualification does nothing to undermine the real goal behind this outing: building toward the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, the endurance classic Verstappen entered and won last year, scheduled this time for May 14–17.

The Dutchman has no room to dwell on it. His next commitment pulls him to the other side of the world: the Japanese Grand Prix, set for the weekend of March 28 at Suzuka.

Thumbnail credits: Gruppe C GmbH / Red Bull Content Pool