Max Verstappen missed out on winning Race 2 of the Qualifiers for the 24 Hours of Nurburgring after his Mercedes developed technical issues.
The Dutchman has been utilising the five-week-long F1 ‘Spring Break’ to explore his interests in GT racing.
The Red Bull driver entered the second qualifying race for the 24 hour endurance race at the ‘Green Hell’, on Sunday.
Driving the Mercedes AMG GT3, Verstappen put up a stellar battle against the likes of Christopher Hesse and a fellow Ferrari 296 GT to take the lead.
Over the course of the first pit stop, the 28-year-old was able to stretch his lead over Hesse’s #16 Audi to a whopping 30 seconds.
However, Verstappen’s car soon after developed splitter issues forcing the four-time F1 World Champion into the pits and out of contention for the overall race win.
Towards the chequered flag, a battle for the win developed between Audi, Lamborghini and the #911 Porsche entered by Manthey Racing with the trio finishing in the same order.
Before the race, a minute’s silence was held to mark the passing of Juha Miettinen, who was tragically killed in a horrific multi-car crash early on in the first qualifying race on Saturday night.
Posting on his Instagram story on Saturday night, Verstappen wrote: “Shocked by what’s happened today. Motorsport is something we all love, but in times like this it is a reminder of how dangerous it can be.
“Sending my heartfelt condolences to Juha’s family and loved ones.”
READ MORE – Max Verstappen suffers further Nurburgring misery with qualifying penalty
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