In front of a sellout weekend crowd of 352,000, Maro Engel, Luca Stolz, Fabian Schiller and Maxime Martin guided the Mercedes-AMG GT3 to victory in the 2026 running, capitalising on terminal issues for the sister #3 entry that had dominated much of the race, giving Mercedes its first win at the Nordschleife classic since 2016.
The result was especially significant for Engel, who claimed a second Nurburgring 24 Hours win after also being part of Mercedes’ last triumph a decade earlier.
For Martin, it marked a long-awaited breakthrough after four previous outright runner-up finishes at the event.
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For much of the contest, attention centred on Verstappen’s #3 Verstappen Racing entry, shared with Daniel Juncadella, Jules Gounon and Lucas Auer.
The car seized control before nightfall and maintained a measured advantage through the darkness and into Sunday morning, with Verstappen going wheel-to-wheel with Engel in one of the race’s closest battles.
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But the complexion of the race shifted dramatically in the final hours. Just after Verstappen completed a double stint, Juncadella reported an issue from the rear of the car, with the Spaniard soon forced to slow as a near 30-second lead evaporated.
The car was wheeled into the garage, where a driveshaft failure and significant rear axle damage were discovered, effectively ending its challenge for victory.
Repairs took several hours, dropping the #3 Mercedes out of contention and eventually to 39th place, though it returned to the track late on.
With the leading car sidelined, the #80 Mercedes assumed control and executed a clean run to the flag in a race shaped by mixed conditions and high attrition.
Engel’s drive proved particularly notable, overcoming a qualifying crash earlier in the weekend and managing a late splash-and-dash stint on cut slicks amid intermittent rain.
Behind the winning Mercedes, the #84 Abt Lamborghini Huracan of Mirko Bortolotti, Patric Niederhauser and Luca Engstler recovered from lap-one contact and a puncture to fight back into contention.
An 84-second penalty for Code 60 slow-zone violations left their position uncertain late on, with the team opting not to serve it and instead build enough of a margin to retain second once applied.
That kept the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin of Mattia Drudi, Christian Krognes and Nicki Thiim at bay, the trio securing third despite their own setbacks in a race that marked the marque’s first overall Nurburgring 24 Hours podium.
The #99 ROWE Racing BMW M4 GT3 of Dan Harper, Max Hesse, Sheldon van der Linde and Dries Vanthoor recovered from an opening-lap spin to finish fourth, with the #81 BMW M3 Touring 24H taking fifth overall and SP-X class honours to round out the top five.
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