Max Verstappen’s Nürburgring 24 Hours debut is already doing what you’d expect a Verstappen project to do: turning a “nice extra-curricular” into something with real sporting intent.
Verstappen Racing’s #3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 will roll off fourth on the grid on Saturday, and the team has confirmed who’ll shoulder the most thankless job in endurance racing – the opening stint in the thick of it. Daniel Juncadella revealed via social media that he’ll take the start, telling followers: “Make sure you tune in at 15:00 [14:00 UK]. I’ll be taking the start in our #3 machine.”
In a race where the first lap can define the entire afternoon – and sometimes the entire 24 hours – that’s a significant call. The Nürburgring doesn’t give you time to “settle in”. It gives you traffic, risk, and chaos, and it tends to punish teams that treat the opening phase like a formality. Putting Juncadella in the car early is a straight, experienced choice: a driver who knows how to survive the inevitable elbows-out jostling into Turn 1 and then make smart time through the first wave of mixed-class traffic once the field begins to stretch.
The encouraging part for Verstappen’s outfit is that this grid slot wasn’t gifted by the weather or others’ mistakes. Verstappen himself played a key role in getting the car into the pole fight, helping the team progress through the Top Qualifying shootout format. After Lucas Auer did the job in Top Qualifying 1 to keep the #3 in the game, Verstappen made sure it advanced into Top Qualifying 3 – the session where pole is truly decided – giving the team a live shot at the front rows rather than simply hoping to hang on somewhere in the top 10.
Juncadella then took over for the final segment and delivered P4, placing the Mercedes on the second row for the start. It’s the sort of sequence that tells you a lot about how Verstappen is approaching this: not as a celebrity cameo, not as a marketing day out, but as a proper attempt to execute a clean weekend with a competitive car and a line-up capable of doing something with it.
Up front, Red Bull Team ABT has locked down pole position, with Luca Engstler putting the #84 Lamborghini at the head of the field. Marco Mapelli completed a Team ABT front-row lockout for Lamborghini, setting the tone for what could become a bruising fight between the lead manufacturers once the race settles into its night-time rhythm.
For Verstappen Racing, the immediate picture is clear. On the second row, alongside the #16 Audi R8, there’s opportunity if the opening stint stays tidy. But that’s also where the race can bite: you’re close enough to the lead to be dragged into other people’s ambition, and close enough to the midfield concertina that one small check-up can turn into a big problem.
That’s why the “who starts” detail matters. Endurance races are won by not losing your head early, and the first hour at the Nordschleife is one of the purest tests of that principle. Juncadella’s task is to keep the Mercedes in the conversation, avoid the sort of first-lap nonsense that turns a strong grid position into an all-night recovery drive, and hand over a car that’s still in one piece and still on strategy.
Verstappen, meanwhile, has already done his part in qualifying by proving he can contribute at the sharp end in a format that doesn’t allow much margin. Now the real Nürburgring begins: 24 hours where pace is only ever part of the story, and where the smartest teams are the ones that know exactly when *not* to fight.
