Four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen has been disqualified from the NLS Race 2 at Nordschleife-Nurburgring. The Red Bull star and his teammates have been stripped of the win at the “green hell” after their dominant display.
Verstappen took to the Nordschleife to race in the NLS (Nurburgring Langstrecken-Serie) with F1 not racing this weekend. Earlier this year, the Dutchman confirmed that he will race for #3 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 under the Verstappen Racing banner with a Red Bull livery.
Max Verstappen took the pole position with a 1.9-second gap to the #16 Audi in P2 and displayed utter dominance in the NLS Race 2, winning by nearly a minute. However, soon after the race ended, the governing body disqualified the #3 Winward Racing entry as they were in violation of the DMSB (Deutscher Motor Sport Bund) tire regulations.
It was found that Max Verstappen and Co. used an extra set of tires than what was permitted (used seven sets instead of the regulated six), and hence were disqualified from the NLS Race 2. #99 BMW M4 GT3 from ROWE RACING was promoted as the winner of the race following the disqualification.
As per the official documents, Max Verstappen and Co’s entry was in “Violation of exceeding the maximum permitted number of tires as per the DMSB Regulations Standard Tire Procedure for NLS, III. Conditions c)”
“The team used a total of 28 individual tires on car #3 during the event. This exceeds the maximum permitted number of 24 individual tires for a 4-hour race,” was the reason as per the official disqualification document.
Approximately two hours after the winning celebrations, the technical commission’s routine review of the Tyre App revealed that #3 Mercedes AMG GT3 used seven sets of tires instead of the permitted six.
Winward Racing Team Principal Christian Hohenadel reacts to Max Verstappen and Co’s disqualification in the #3 Mercedes entry
Max Verstappen, Daniel Juncadella, and Jules Gounon dominated the NLS Race 2, and were in the lead for over three quarters of the four-hour race time. A disqualification after a dominant display hurts both the team and the drivers.
Winward Racing Team Principal Christian Hohenadel released a statement following the disqualification, which read,
“The disqualification hurts. Unfortunately, a mistake was made within the team that forced race control to retroactively disqua- lify the winning car. For us, this was our first outing as a Merce- des-AMG Performance team on the Nürburgring Nordschleife. I would like to apologize to everyone who was rooting for us. We will now thoroughly analyze the day, meticulously prepare for the remaining races, and work toward the ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring with full concentration.”
Max Verstappen will return to the Nordschleife for the 24 Hours of Nurburgring later this year in May.
Edited by Pranay Bhagi
