Shocking Max Verstappen disqualification at the Nürburgring 4 Hours: what happened. Max Verstappen and his team are disqualified from the Nürburgring 4 Hours after winning,.

Bad news for Max Verstappen as his team was disqualified after winning the Nürburgring 4 Hours. The Dutch driver had finally achieved a satisfaction in 2026, taking the Mercedes number 3 to first place at the Green Hell with a one-minute lead over the nearest rivals. Just a few hours after the checkered flag, however, news arrived that Max Verstappen had been disqualified from the race.

Verstappen teams up with Juncadella and Gounon

The Red Bull driver raced alongside Daniel Juncadella and Jules Gounon, with whom he will also compete in the upcoming 24-hour event scheduled for May. Max had claimed pole position earlier in the morning and participated in both the first and last stints of the race. After a close battle with Audi in the early stages, the team pulled away and dominated the event, before receiving the shocking news of the disqualification.

The official statement on Max Verstappen’s disqualification

Max Verstappen and his crew had initially triumphed at the Nürburgring 4 Hours, but the verdict overturned their victory. The second round of the NLS championship, held as preparation for the 24 Hours, had once again demonstrated the speed and competitiveness of the Mercedes AMG GT3.

Approximately two hours after the checkered flag, during a routine review of the so-called App Tyre by the technical committee, it was discovered that the team had used seven sets of tires on race day instead of the six permitted. The stewards therefore had no choice but to disqualify the team, awarding the victory to Dan Harper and Jordan Pepper in the BMW M4 GT3 from ROWE RACING.

Winward Racing reacts to the penalty

Christian Hohenadel, Team Principal of Winward Racing, commented:

“The disqualification hurts. Unfortunately, a mistake was made within the team that forced the race control to retroactively disqualify the winning car. For us, this was our first outing as the Mercedes-AMG Performance team on the Nürburgring Nordschleife. I would like to apologize to everyone who supported us. We will now analyze the day thoroughly, prepare meticulously for the remaining races, and work with full focus toward the ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring.”

While the physical result on the track proved that Max Verstappen and Winward Racing have the pace to beat the best at the Nordschleife, the administrative error serves as a costly lesson in endurance racing logistics. For the fans, the spectacle of Verstappen’s masterclass remains, but the history books will show a ROWE Racing victory. All eyes now turn to the next round as the team looks to ensure their operational precision matches their blistering on-track speed.