21/05/2026

How dominant was Max Verstappen at the Nurburgring 24 Hours?

The subjective consensus was overwhelming: Max Verstappen’s display at the 2026 Nurburgring 24 Hours was nothing short of extraordinary, cementing his reputation as arguably the fastest driver on the planet right now. But does this dominance hold up under statistical scrutiny?

The most direct comparison lies with his team-mates Daniel Juncadella, Jules Gounon, and Lucas Auer. While comparing them directly requires a caveat, as they were rarely on track under identical conditions, the data remains compelling.

Furthermore, we can benchmark his performance against the sister car (#80) of Maro Engel, Luca Stolz, Fabian Schiller, and Maxime Martin. Although the #80 featured a different suspension from Bilstein rather than the #3’s Multimatic dampers, the overall performance delta between the two vehicles remained negligible.

Let’s first look at the fastest lap times set by each of the eight drivers:

Max Verstappen #3 – 8:12.818
Maro Engel #80 – 8:13.213
Dani Juncadella #3 – 8:13.718
Fabian Schiller #80 – 8:14.646
Luca Stolz #80 – 8:14.687
Lucas Auer #3 – 8:16.355
Maxime Martin #80 – 8:17.416
Jules Gounon #3 – 8:18.993

A small win for the four-time Formula 1 world champion. While it is fair to note that some drivers enjoyed cleaner track time than others, and Verstappen benefited from favourable conditions during his morning stint, the fact remains: he outpaced seasoned AMG factory drivers who compete in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 week-in, week-out on a global stage.

A more granular insight is provided by a head-to-head analysis of Verstappen’s stints compared to his counterparts in the #80, where both were on track simultaneously and not too far apart from each other, also pitting at the same laps:

Verstappen Stint 1 (Laps 8-15)

#3: Max Verstappen – 1h11m44.018s

#80: Maro Engel – 1h11m50.069s

Result: Verstappen 6.051 seconds faster.

At this stage, the cars were still separated on track as the #80 fought its way up from 25th on the grid. Verstappen, meanwhile, was largely battling through the heavy traffic in the lead pack.

Verstappen Stint 2 (Laps 16-23)

#3: Max Verstappen – 1h19m04.361s

#80: Maxime Martin – 1h19m41.616s

Result: Verstappen 37.255 seconds faster.

To be fair, we must account for a Code 60 zone that caught out Martin as Verstappen had squeezed through just before the limit was enforced. Martin lost 18.453 seconds in that single moment. Even adjusting for this, Verstappen remained 18.802 seconds faster. This was his slowest stint due to many Code 60s.

Verstappen Stint 3 (Laps 67-74)

#3: Max Verstappen – 1h17m50.033s

#80: Maro Engel – 1h17m57.103s

Result: Verstappen 7.070 seconds faster.

The night stint witnessed their ultimate confrontation, including the infamous contact between the two AMGs. Verstappen edged out Engel in the direct duel. Despite the significantly slower pace caused by two major Code 60 zones, the Dutchman took back the lead during this stint, which the #3 then kept until hitting problems.

Verstappen Stint 4 (Laps 75-82)

#3: Max Verstappen – 1h11m45.466s

#80: Maxime Martin – 1h12m11.925s

Result: Verstappen 26.459 seconds faster.

Following their duel, Verstappen pulled nearly half a minute on Martin during the second half of his double stint. There was no single «big chunk» of time lost here; Verstappen was simply faster than the Belgian on almost every single lap. With only one Code 60 in effect, the pace was slightly higher than in the stint before.

Verstappen Stint 5 (Laps 115-122)

#3: Max Verstappen – 1h10m06.621s

#80: Luca Stolz – 1h10m14.786s

Result: Verstappen 8.165 seconds faster.

This was Verstappen’s only stint against Stolz, another elite, long-time AMG specialist. In the high-speed conditions of Sunday morning with little Code 60 interference, Verstappen continued to build his lead incrementally.

Verstappen Stint 6 (Laps 123-130)

#3: Max Verstappen – 1h09m57.580s

#80: Maro Engel – 1h10m32.680s

Result: Verstappen 35.100 seconds faster.

To be fair, we must discount the out-lap, as the #80 began experiencing unusually long pit stops at this point — rumoured to be a team tactical decision to prevent further on-track clashes after the earlier night-time drama. The gaps were effectively frozen.

Even after stripping discounting the out-lap (where Engel lost 11.724s) and the in-lap (where Code 60 accounted for another 13.849s loss), Verstappen remained 9.527 seconds faster.

Conclusion

Verstappen was faster than his direct rival in every single one of his stints. Across his 48 total laps, he outpaced his team-mate in the #80 on 35 occasions.

This level of consistency is no coincidence. Across his six stints, Verstappen built a total gap of 2m00.100s over the #80. Even when stripping out the variables of Code 60 and pit stop disparities, Verstappen was still 1m16.074s faster.

That is a staggering achievement, particularly given the modern reality that closing a two-minute gap on pure merit at the Nurburgring 24 Hours has become nearly impossible.

Analysing these 20% fastest laps for the #3 Winward-Mercedes, Verstappen alone accounts for 12 of the 27 fastest laps. That is nearly half the top-tier performance for a car shared by four drivers.

Verstappen has truly left his mark. Considering the calibre of the team-mates he was up against, his performance solidifies his status as, quite possibly, the fastest circuit racer on four wheels at present.