Max Verstappen shoved Maro Engel onto the grass during a late-night wheel-to-wheel battle for the lead at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, a forceful move that included multiple contacts and a near-miss that almost sent Engel off track. Verstappen, in the #3 car, closed on Engel’s #80 and forced a move down the Döttinger Straight that pushed Engel onto the grass approaching Tiergarten amid lapped traffic. The clash produced no major crash, and Engel described it as a misunderstanding caused by traffic, saying there was no damage and that he and Verstappen even laughed about the incident afterward.

Engel and his co-drivers Luca Stolz, Fabian Schiller and Maxime Martin secured the win for Mercedes, marking the manufacturer’s first Nürburgring 24 Hours victory since 2016 and finishing about 46 seconds clear of the next car. Verstappen’s bid for victory ended when a driveshaft failure dropped his #3 entry to 38th place.

The episode followed a year-old online dispute over a GT3 Nordschleife lap time attributed to Verstappen under the alias “Franz Hermann,” a matter Engel later said included incorrect information about a 7:48 DTM-spec run. Mercedes and team principal Toto Wolff cited Verstappen’s risky on-track moment when they and other Formula 1 teams blocked junior driver Kimi Antonelli from attending the Nürburgring next year, a move described as a precautionary, governance-style decision. Engel has been reported to be in close contact with Antonelli about a possible future entry and has attempted to recruit him, even as both drivers downplayed any personal rivalry after the clash. Verstappen said he would “try” to return to the Nürburgring 24 Hours in 2027 depending on his schedule.