P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Max Verstappen lost another likely Nordschleife win, having charged from fifth to first before an issue grounded his Mercedes in the garage
Max Verstappen’s bad luck at the Nurburgring Nordschleife continued as he lost a likely victory after starting from fifth and charging to first place before an issue sidelined his Team Verstappen Mercedes in the garage on Sunday.
Verstappen had made impressive progress during the race, overtaking several competitors and fighting hard for the lead, only to be thwarted by a front splitter defect during his second pitstop, forcing him to retire from the race.
Teammate Lucas Auer took over the car but was unable to recover from the setback, eventually finishing outside the top 80 and three laps down.
This unfortunate turn of events added to Verstappen’s string of missed opportunities at the Nurburgring in 2026, where earlier he was disqualified from a potential victory in March.
In the end, Alexander Sims assumed the lead in the #16 Audi and went on to win the race with two hours still remaining.
