During his first stint, Verstappen was trailing the Christian Engelhart-driven #7 Konrad Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan when his car suddenly took flight at Pflanzgarten.
The #3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG went onto the grass and appeared to give the outside barrier a light graze.
The close call came just over an hour into the race having taken the reins of the car from co-driver Dani Juncadella.
“Yeah, we had a little moment,” said Verstappen after his first stint.
“I think I turned in a bit too early, and then, yeah, we had a little moment there.
“But it was fine. You just have to keep yourself together, stay calm, and just focus again.”
max please dont ever do this again oh my god pic.twitter.com/oXO9Za7Kh3
— Verstappen News (@verstappenews) May 16, 2026
Verstappen enjoyed his first stint, which saw him drive through to the lead of the race and pit with a 25-second lead.
“It was good,” said the four-time F1 champion.
“Initially, of course, I was a bit stuck in traffic, so it was a bit difficult to clear the cars.
“But once I cleared a few of them, and then the weather kicked in with a few laps of slippery conditions, that’s the thing where we made a difference.
“And then the car was good. I mean, yeah, trying to stay out of trouble, but at the same time, you have to push and you have to try and be on the limit, which is always a difficult compromise to find, but it worked out fine.”
At the time of publication with 14 hours to go in the Nurburgring 24 Hours, the #3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG is fourth overall. The race is led by the #99 Rowe Racing BMW M4.
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