Max Verstappen issues Nurburgring fighting talk: 'Unfinished business'

Max Verstappen has insisted he has "unfinished business" with the Nürburgring 24 Hours and is certain he will return to the iconic endurance event.

The four-time world champion made his 24-hour debut last weekend at the Nürburgring Nordschleife in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 and looked set for a maiden victory after 20 hours.

However, a shock mechanical failure in the closing hours saw Verstappen's outfit spend more than three hours in the garage undergoing repairs, dropping it all the way to 38th position.

It was a painful end to what had been a spectacular effort by the Red Bull Racing driver, who enjoyed the entire experience.

"I think overall it was just a great week," Verstappen told select media including RacingNews365.

"Yeah, I enjoyed it a lot, because it was my first big endurance race, and everything went really well. We had the car in good shape, and I think we executed everything very well.

"Unfortunately, it's still a mechanical sport at the end of the day, and yeah, we had that failure, which, of course, cost us the win because we had everything under control up until that point.

"But the whole experience of driving in the wet, changing conditions, and sharing it with my teammates was something that I really enjoyed."

Unsurprisingly, Verstappen is not content with having simply participated in the race; the Dutchman is eager to return.

He wants to win the Nürburgring 24 Hours, but knows that competing in next year's event — and completing the preparation required — depends on the 2027 F1 calendar.

Asked if he is eager to return, the 28-year-old replied: "Yeah, I do feel, of course, that it's a bit of like unfinished business. I want to win it, so I want to go back, but of course, the calendar needs to allow it.

"But it's definitely, of course, a race that I want to do more often."