Max Verstappen Nurburgring Return Ruined After Shock Announcement

The Dutch racer and his team crossed the line first, but not all was as it seemed.

Red Bull Content Pool

Over the past year, Max Verstappen has used his race-free weekends to venture outside of Formula One and compete in the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie, or NLS for short.

His first race outside of F1 saw him finish seventh in the Cup 3 NLS format, before a win in his debut in the SP9 discipline alongside Chris Lulham for Emil Frey Racing.

The Dutchman made a return to the series in preparation for one of his racing goals — to compete in the 24 Hours of Nürburgring — and impressed by winning pole at the German track, but his strong start to the weekend ended with less than ideal news.

Max Verstappen and co. disqualified after impressive race win

Max Verstappen has only scored 8 points out of a possible 58 through the first two races of the 2026 F1 season. | Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

All of the drivers of the number 3 Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 car can be proud of their efforts demonstrated in the west of Germany, as Verstappen, Jules Gounon and Daniel Juncadella's joint efforts resulted in their car winning by over a minute in the opening race of the NLS season.

It marked Verstappen’s first win of the year, having finished sixth at the Australian Grand Prix, while a point-less sprint in China was compounded by a mechanical retirement in Sunday’s race and a sense of disappointment all around.

His winless start to 2026 is set to continue, however, as he and his teammates' P1 finish at Nürburgring was ruled out due to the car breaching regulations on tire usage over a race weekend.

Six sets of tires are the maximum permitted for any team, but the Verstappen Racing garage used seven over the course of the event, with the error occurring in qualifying, as all teams, including Verstappen's, used three sets during the 24-kilometer race.

Team 🙌 pic.twitter.com/BwC9wGOvPx

— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) March 21, 2026

Christian Hohenadel, team boss of Winward, who manages the Verstappen Racing entry, apologized for the error and confirmed that it was a mistake on Saturday that led to the removal of their win.

"I would like to apologise to everyone who was cheering us on... the disqualification is tough to take... unfortunately, we made an internal error that left the stewards with no choice but to exclude the winning car."

Hohenadel on the DQ

This is the first time Verstappen has ever faced a disqualification in his entire career. The 28-year-old hasn't broken any rules during raceday in any of the 12 seasons he has spent competing in F1, for either Toro Rosso or Red Bull.

Verstappen will next be in action at Suzuka in Japan, as he looks to restore Red Bull's form before the season takes a month-long break due to the conflict in the Middle East.