Mercedes-AMG factory driver Fabian Schiller claimed the first major endurance victory of his career as the #80 Mercedes-AMG entry won the Nürburgring 24 Hours, while the heavily favoured #3 Verstappen Racing Mercedes retired from the lead in the closing stages. Speaking exclusively to Motorsport Week after the race, Schiller described the result as “a long time coming” after several years competing at the front on the Nordschleife.
Even before the weekend began, the focus inside the Mercedes-AMG camp centred largely around the #3 car of Max Verstappen, Lucas Auer, Jules Gounon and Dani Juncadella. With Verstappen’s arrival attracting major attention and the car showing frontrunning pace throughout practice and qualifying, it entered the race as one of the favourites for overall victory.
The #3 Verstappen Racing entry carried the profile and pace, and for long stretches of the race, looked like the likely winner. On the other side of the garage, the #80 Mercedes-AMG crew quietly rebuilt their weekend after qualifying damage left them starting deep in the field. Maro Engel’s qualifying crash meant Fabian Schiller, Maro Engel, Maxime Martin, and Luca Stolz lined up only 25th on the grid. At the Nürburgring Nordschleife, where traffic management can define an entire race, that is rarely where winning stories start.
But over the next 24 hours, the #80 crew stayed in contention throughout and avoided the mistakes and issues that affected several rivals. “It’s been a crazy weekend,” Schiller said afterwards. “We know that qualifying is not the decider for a 24h race, and in this race especially. We knew that it is important to be in the front group pack early in the race, because otherwise it’s quite hard to recover the lost time.”
That recovery started immediately. Engel’s opening stint moved the car through traffic and back towards the leading group before the race settled into rhythm. “To be honest, we always said that we had the feeling that we had a chance to fight for the win,” Schiller explained. “Because we had a strong car, very strong driver pairing, strong team.”
The decisive moment came when rain arrived around four hours into the race. While conditions shifted unpredictably across different sections of the Nordschleife, the #80 committed early to wet tyres, allowing the car to gain track position. “There was this rain shower, and we made a decision to go on wets,” Schiller said. “With Michelin, our very strong tyre partner, they gave us a chance to pull a big gap.”
The main goal was to maintain pace
From there, the #80 focused on maintaining position: “Then we were in the lead by 2-3 minutes and from that point onwards it was more about surviving and trying not to make mistakes.” The 24 Hours this year was defined by changing grip levels, inconsistent weather and constant traffic. Drivers regularly encountered different conditions from one sector to another.
“The race was particularly challenging mentally,” Schiller said. “It rained on and off in various places. You never knew what to expect on the next lap.” The result also came after Schiller had already come close to victory at the Nürburgring before, claiming a second place in 2022. And then again, when making a mistake while in the lead of the race in 2024.
While the #3 car often held the spotlight, the #80 crew ultimately completed the more reliable race. Their win was secured after the Verstappen Racing Mercedes suffered a driveshaft failure in the final hours while leading what looked set to become a Mercedes-AMG one-two finish.
“It’s disappointing because we were in for a pretty safe one-two finish,” Schiller admitted. “It’s a bit of a shame because it didn’t allow us to have a nice end-of-race battle between our two cars. But that’s endurance racing.”
For Schiller, the victory marked his first major win in endurance racing after several years racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 machinery at the Nordschleife. “It’s my first major win in endurance racing,” he said. “It’s incredible. I am very proud to share this moment with the team, with my teammates and Mercedes-AMG. It hasn’t really sunk in yet.”
Discussion about this post