Motorsport’s worst kept secret is finally official: Max Verstappen will make his ADAC Ravenol 24h Nürburgring debut on May 14-17 as part of Winward Racing’s two-car entry.
The four-time FIA Formula 1 World Champion joins forces with former Intercontinental GT Challenge title winners Jules Gounon and Daniel Juncadella plus DTM runner-up Lucas Auer aboard the #3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing entry.
Winward’s other factory combination will generate far less fanfare but is no less stacked. Bathurst winners Maro Engel and Maxime Martin will defend their early IGTC championship lead with two more works drivers: Fabian Schiller and Luca Stolz.
Confirmation of Verstappen’s participation in Round 2 of the Intercontinental GT Challenge comes two months after Verstappen.com announced its Mercedes-AMG partnership. The same collaboration is also contesting GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS, albeit with Chris Lulham alongside Juncadella for the Sprint rounds and Gounon completing the crew’s Endurance Cup line-up. 2 Seas Motorsport will run this entry, just as it did in 2025 when Lulham won the Gold class title in an Aston Martin.
It also follows Lulham and Verstappen claiming overall victory on their NLS SP9 debuts last season. The latter is now scheduled to contest NLS2 on March 21 – between the Chinese and Japanese grands prix – in preparation for the Green Hell’s biggest event in mid-May.
“The Nürburgring is a special place. There’s no other track like it. The 24h Nürburgring is a race that’s been on my bucket list for a long time, so I’m really thrilled we can make it happen now,” said Verstappen. “Last year, I was able to get my DMSB Permit Nordschleife and participate in NLS9, that we won. That preparation is very valuable, as we have learned a lot that we can take into our programme this year with NLS2 and the 24-hour race.
“We’ve got a strong line-up with Dani, Jules and Lucas and great support from Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG Motorsport. Now it’s about putting in the right preparations before the events, so we can maximise everything in the races.”
Mercedes-AMG might have won IGTC’s season opener at Mount Panorama but it hasn’t tasted 24 Hours victory at the Nordschleife since 2016. BMW won the event last year en route to both the manufacturers’ and drivers’ titles.
