Verstappen: We need to maintain focus and calmness.

      Max Verstappen made it clear in the first hours of the 24-hour marathon at the Nürburgring that he was determined to win this race on his first attempt. He took the lead when about one-eighth of the distance was behind him, partly due to the difficulties faced by some of his main competitors.

      When Max replaced Daniel Hunkadella, his teammate driving the Mercedes-AMG GT3, the start of his stint was somewhat nerve-wracking; he nearly went off the track, brushing the grass with his right wheels in the Eiskurve turn.

      Soon, he overtook a similar Mercedes of one of his rivals, again speeding through the grassy shoulder, which could have led to unpleasant consequences, but it turned out fine. Then Verstappen gradually dealt with the others in his path to the top position, partly due to the right tactical choices, which is critically important in endurance racing.

      Closer to the end of the third hour, Max overtook the Ford Mustang of Norwegian Denis Olsen, and on the 19th lap of the race, he passed the Aston Martin AMR GT3 Evo of his compatriot Christian Krognæs and took the lead.

      On the next pit stop, Max went in as the leader, but even after he handed over the wheel to Jules Gounon, the Verstappen Racing team maintained the first position, although less than seven seconds behind, towards the end of the 4th hour of the race, was the Porsche 911 of the Manthey Racing team, which are quite formidable opponents. But they also encountered problems: Kevin Estre lost control of the car in one of the turns and severely damaged the rear when the Porsche spun and crashed into the barriers.

      This likely happened because it started to drizzle, and the track was becoming increasingly slippery. Additionally, the air and asphalt temperatures dropped by the evening, which also affected grip. Following that, another accident occurred, and the race was neutralized once again in that section of the track, as the damaged vehicle needed to be evacuated and the damaged barriers repaired.

      But just before that, Olsen managed to take advantage of Hunkadella getting stuck in traffic and likely not wanting to take risks on the slippery track, while the Norwegian successfully made the overtake, and the Mercedes sports car with the number 3 moved into second position.

      Max Verstappen commented on the events of this stage of the race: "At the beginning of my stint, I got stuck in traffic; it was not easy to overtake the cars in front of me, but once I dealt with them, the weather started to deteriorate, it became slippery, and the situation got complicated.

      But the car is working well, and right now, the most important thing is to avoid trouble while continuing to attack, but driving at the limit in such conditions is not easy. You have to find the right compromise, although it’s a challenging task to stay focused and calm. You also need to prepare for the night part of the race and keep an eye on what’s happening with the weather, adjusting for the intensity of the rain.

      I believe the next few hours promise to be very challenging."