With Max Verstappen and his Verstappen Racing brand attached to the #3 Winward Racing-run entry, there has never been more focus on Mercedes-AMG at the Nurburgring 24 Hours. But the reality is that the four-time F1 world champion is just one part of an extremely strong driver line-up across multiple works-affiliated cars, all aiming to secure a first overall N24 victory for the Stuttgart brand since Black Falcon’s triumph in 2016.
In the #3, Jules Gounon, a multiple Spa 24 and Bathurst 12 winner, joins Verstappen, Daniel Juncadella and Lucas Auer behind the wheel, and he’s full of praise for the Dutchman’s approach thus far. “For us it’s a privileged moment to have such a legend of the sport coming to a completely different category,” he says. “He’s also putting himself out of his comfort zone, right? We’re all in our specific categories, but I think as long as Max has a steering wheel and pedals in front of him, he’ll drive anything to the limit. He’s a generational talent but also a really nice person. So the week has been amazing so far.”
While this is Verstappen’s first time contesting a 24-hour race in the real world, Gounon is quick to point out that Red Bull’s man has plenty of endurance experience in the sim racing arena, which makes him far from unfamiliar with the different mentality needed to succeed here. “We can still give him a few tips about night driving, for instance, and what can happen there,” he says, “but he also asks so many questions, which feels surprising at first; it’s like, ‘you’re a four-time F1 champion, why are you asking me, the GT driver?’ Overall he’s very well prepared and I think he will deliver a fantastic race.”
Gounon is obviously no stranger to the N24, and for the last four editions has driven cars run by GetSpeed. Switching to Winward-run machinery is no major transition for him, however, as that squad also runs his DTM car, and his familiar DTM engineer is on strength for the N24, too. “They’re a fantastic team, they’re well known; this is a comeback to the N24 for them, but they’ve won so many other races, I have full confidence in them,” he says.
When it comes to the key factors that will decide the race, Gounon mentions two words that are on the lips of almost every pro-class driver here: tyres and traffic. The N24 is one of the last bastions of tyre competition in global motorsports, with most drivers enjoying the opportunity to race on more bespoke and specialised rubber than what they’re used to in the major GT3 championships. “The Michelin tyre is very consistent and it’s definitely an advantage to have them as a partner – especially in wet or mixed conditions,” Gounon explains. “Overall, it’s fantastic to see so many tyre brands here – it reminds us a bit of motorsport back in the day.”
With the lifting of a cap on entries imposed in recent years, 2026 has seen the grid swell from 140-odd we’ve seen of late to a staggering total of 161 across the numerous classes. Even over such a long lap, the difference is notable, according to Gounon. “Sometimes the traffic is crazy, [on Thursday] there were some laps where I lost a lot of time, because if you hit traffic at the wrong time, wrong place, you can lose a lot,” he says. “It’s part of the Verstappen effect, too, I guess: everybody want to do the race and share the track with him. Obviously you have quite a mix of professional and amateur drivers here, that’s the beauty of this race, so you have to judge things carefully but also be a bit lucky, to be honest.”
The #3 came off pretty well in the revised-for-2026 ‘Top Qualifying’ format, with Juncadella placing the car fourth on the grid in Friday’s final 12-car session. “For me, the system is a little bit too complicated,” Gounon states, “and if it’s too complicated for us, imagine how the fans must feel? But Daniel, Max and Lucas all did fantastic laps, so overall everything has been great so far; here’s hoping it continues like this.”
Third in 2022 is the closest the Andorran-based Frenchman has come to the top step of the podium at this event so far; he’s extremely keen to add the trophy to his Spa and Bathurst laurels sooner rather than later. “I really believe, with these big races, there’s an aura about the place and it feels like the place chooses you,” he says. “So let’s hope it’s the right time and the right moment for me this year.”
With strong pace in Thursday’s sessions, the sister #80 Winward Mercedes had the air of an early favourite, before an admitted error by Maro Engel halfway through Friday morning’s Top Qualifying 2 left the car damaged and starting the race from 20th at the back of the SP9 Pro pack. Joining the veteran German are Luca Stolz, Fabian Schiller and the highly experienced Maxime Martin, but the latter wasn’t overly concerned by the qualifying incident when DSC spoke to him after the session.
“I’ve been in worse situations, I’ve been in better situations,” he says philosophically when asked about the start. “And when you start mid-pack like this you do have more chance of contact and damage.” Martin adds that the squad would probably have elected to sit out Saturday morning’s hour-long warm-up but will now need to do a mini-shakedown to ensure all is well following the necessary repair work. “We’ll see what the conditions are like and we’ll decide whether to do the Nordschleife or just the GP loop,” he says.
Martin is in a good position to advise his colleagues on the #3 crew about sharing a GT car with a global motorsport superstar, having spent two seasons alongside Valentino Rossi during his time with BMW. As an acknowledged star of GT3 racing, he’s delighted with the attention both Rossi and Verstappen’s outings have brought to this corner of the sport. “When you see the amount of people here this weekend, it can only be positive for GT3 and endurance. Around the paddock and garages, there’s noticeably more people, but at the same time it’s always been pretty busy here, so it doesn’t feel hugely different.”
A class win in 2018 (with Aston Martin) and second overall in 2013, 2015 and 2023 (all with BMW) are Martin’s N24 high points so far. Now in his second year with Mercedes-AMG, as well as his second year sharing with Engel, Stolz and Schiller, the Belgian feels settled in this environment, but does admit to some concern for the Mercedes runners in relation to this year’s prevailing cold weather. “I think hotter conditions would be a bit better for us,” he states, “because while the Mercedes is very good to its tyres, that also means it can be tricky to get energy into them, so the cooler conditions are sometimes harder. But we know it’s never very hot this weekend, so we’ve prepared for the race and prepared our setup with this in mind, so we should still be in a good window.”
Away from the two Winward cars, the #26 Bilstein-backed PROsport Racing entry forms another string to Mercedes-AMG’s bow at this year’s N24. Canada’s Mikael Grenier is sharing with British ‘gamer-turned-racer’ Chris Lulham, as well as Adam Christodoulou and Marek Boeckmann, who both bring significant Nordschleife experience to the table. Grenier notes a key differentiator between his car and Winward’s is the #26’s Goodyear tyres, and while the difference between brands is reckoned to be only slight in the dry, in the wet the French manufacturer is seen to have the edge over all its competitors.
Having begun his career in North America, Grenier now has a decade of experience racing in Europe under his belt, but has a little less experience of the ’Ring than many other GT3 stalwarts. “For me it takes 20 or 30 laps to get into a rhythm, and after that experience really comes into play when dealing with the weather, the traffic and night running,” he explains. “Even running NLS races doesn’t give you much track time in the dark, really.” Grenier makes similar comments to other drivers about the challenge of traffic, but also notes: “It’s not easy for [drivers in the slower classes] to just look in the mirror all the time. So I do have a lot of respect for them, actually, because when I did my permit, I had to race in the less powerful cars and it’s not easy.”
Images courtesy of Frozenspeed
