Nürburgring background, Verstappen ‘gave over’ the first stint to Juncadella: “On the 1st lap I know myself… better if you start”

Final mockery The highly anticipated 24 hours of the Nürburgring ended with an atrocious sporting mockery for the crew of Mercedes #3. The Verstappen-Gounon-Juncadella-Auer quartet put on a great show on the track and above all the four-time Formula 1 world champion fully lived up to the enormous expectations that had accompanied him before this event, but despite a largely dominated race a technical problem – specifically a failure of the transmission shaft – about three hours before the checkered flag forced the team to make a very long pit stop which caused the #3 to fall from first position to 37th at the end of the race, with 21 laps behind the winning car, the twin #80. No risks at the start All eyes were naturally on Verstappen who was the protagonist of epic stints, giving a great show to the German public with some goosebumps-inducing overtaking. Perhaps a little surprisingly, however, it was not the Dutch champion who carried out the first stint of the race, the one at the start, but the Spaniard Daniel Juncadella, a true veteran of endurance races who also boasts a success at the 24 hours of Spa in his palmares. In an interview given to the Spanish website SoyMotor Juncadella told an amusing backstory, revealing that it was Verstappen himself who asked him to take care of the first stint of the race. The Dutchman was in fact worried about taking too many risks during the opening stages of the race. “Friday evening, after qualifying, (Max) came to me and said: ‘It’s better that you start, because I know myself and it’s 24 hours. It’s the first lap, we’re fourth and I’ll want to get into battle with everyone. Better that you start’. For me it was fantastic to feel this trust from him and the fact that he wanted me to take care of the start.” Verstappen certainly didn’t give up taking risks in his stints, but in the end it wasn’t his aggression that dashed the #3 Mercedes’ hopes of victory.

Automobile Magazine – F1 English News , 2026-05-19 16:37:00