Max Verstappen's hopes of victory at the Nürburgring 24 Hours have been all but ended after his #3 Mercedes suffered a driveshaft failure during what appeared to be a winning run.
The four-time F1 drivers' champion — sharing driving duties with Jules Gounon, Dani Juncadella and Lucas Auer — had been leading the charge towards what looked like a commanding victory when mechanical gremlins struck their Mercedes-AMG GT3 machine.
Onboard footage from Juncadella's stint captured the moment a concerning noise emerged from the car, prompting an immediate return to the pits. The vehicle has remained in the garage whilst Mercedes-AMG assess the extent of the damage.
Stefan Wendl, manager of Mercedes-AMG, explained the sequence of events that led to their current predicament.
"Immediately after the pit stop, during the changeover from Max to Dani, we received an ABS alarm," Wendl told race organisers.
"Initially, we thought we had an electrical fault. We attempted to reset it, and Dani indicated during his first lap that he could actually manage quite well with it. However, additional noises and vibrations then developed, forcing him to return slowly to the pits after just two laps."
Further investigation in the garage revealed the severity of the problem facing the German manufacturer's squad.
"It has emerged that we have damage to the drivetrain, which unfortunately has also caused considerable consequential damage to other surrounding components of the rear axle," Wendl continued. "A lengthy repair is therefore required to get the car race-ready again."
Despite the setback, Mercedes-AMG has committed to attempting the complex repair work needed to return the car to the circuit.
"We have spoken with Max, we have spoken with the other drivers, and naturally, everyone is hugely disappointed, especially because they battled so long with the #80 car, the Ravenol car, for the lead," Wendl revealed.
"But we have decided that we will fix the car, so that we can go out once more in the final phase of the race to show it to the fans."
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