Max Verstappen issues statement after being stripped of race win

Max Verstappen has issued a statement after he and his Mercedes-AMG GT3 teammates were disqualified from Saturday’s Nurburgring Nordschleife race after exceeding the tyre limit

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Max Verstappen has released a statement after the controversy over the weekend(Image: Jayce Illman, Getty Images)

Max Verstappen’s win at the Nurburgring Nordschleife over the weekend was CANCELLED, and he has responded via his Verstappen Racing brand. The four-time F1 world champion teamed up with Daniel Juncadella and Jules Gounon in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 for the second race of the Nurburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS).

The trio secured a comfortable victory, finishing more than a minute ahead of their nearest rivals. However, post-race controversy ensued when Verstappen and his team were retrospectively disqualified and their victory rescinded.

Officials discovered that seven sets of tyres had been used, surpassing the six-set limit for race day which includes both qualifying and the race itself. Consequently, the win was awarded to the Rowe Racing pair of Don Harper and Jordan Pepper.

Verstappen Racing has since issued a statement addressing the outcome, which read: “Tough outcome, but we keep moving. A lot to take from the weekend and plenty to look forward to.”

This follows a statement from Mercedes expressing their disappointment at the surprising disqualification. Stefan Wendl, head of Mercedes-AMG customer racing, said: “The NLS weekend will remain in our memories for a long time.

“We saw pure racing on the track, experienced an extraordinary day in terms of atmosphere and were initially delighted with the supposed race victory. The disappointment was all the greater when we realised that we had made a mistake behind the scenes that morning and the race organisers were forced to disqualify the winning car.

“That hurts, and naturally everyone involved is very disappointed. It shows once again that you can only win on the Nordschleife if everything comes together.

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Verstappen would have been disappointed by the verdict(Image: Getty)

“Winward Racing, who managed the deployment of the two performance cars, were competing in this line-up for the first time in the NLS.

“Now we need to analyse the mistakes, whilst also taking the positive lessons from the weekend on board and focusing on the remaining preparatory races as well as the 24-hour race.”

Verstappen is anticipated to make his return to the Nurburgring Nordschleife, infamously dubbed the Green Hell, for the 24 Hours of Nurburgring in May.

Though the Dutchman recently suggested he might be back at the legendary circuit for the series’ next round, NLS3, next month. The scrapping of the Bahrain Grand Prix and Saudi Arabia Grand Prix owing to the conflict in the Middle East has opened up a window in Verstappen’s schedule.

Asked about the prospect of a swift comeback, he responded: “We’re looking into it. It depends if it is feasible, but I’m always happy to race here.”