Max Verstappen stripped of Nurburgring victory due to tyre infringement

Max Verstappen, along with teammates Daniel Juncadella and Jules Gounon, was disqualified from a victory in the NLS2 endurance race at the Nurburgring after their team, Winward Racing, unintentionally used an extra set of tyres during qualifying. The #3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 was found to have breached the six-set tyre limit, a costly error that turned a winning performance into a post-race exclusion.

Why it matters:

While the infringement provided no direct performance advantage in the race itself, the disqualification underscores the absolute precision required in top-level motorsport, where operational errors can nullify on-track success. For Verstappen, the four-time F1 world champion, it highlights the challenges of adapting to different racing series with their own specific regulations, even in what was meant to be a fun side project.

The details:

The chain of events that led to the disqualification was rooted in a cold Saturday morning test session.

• With air temperatures at just 5°C, the Winward team decided to test Michelin's soft-compound tyre during qualifying to gather data, a move within their original plan.
• After Daniel Juncadella reported his first set of softs felt "off," the team sent Jules Gounon out on a second set of softs to confirm if the issue was with that specific set of tyres or the compound itself.
• This second soft-tyre run was the critical, unplanned addition that pushed the team over the allocated six-set limit for the event.
• Verstappen later used his assigned set of medium tyres for his qualifying run, and the team then used four brand-new sets of mediums for the race—one for each driver stint—as is standard practice.

What's next:

The disqualification serves as an expensive but clear lesson for the team. The only tangible gain was data confirming the soft tyre was not suitable for the warming track conditions. For Verstappen, the incident is a minor setback in his extracurricular racing activities but is unlikely to affect his primary focus in Formula 1. The story gained significant attention precisely because of his involvement, illustrating how his star power brings even minor series like the NLS into the global spotlight.