Daniel Juncadella hinted that the “heartbroken” Max Verstappen may be motivated to return to the Nurburgring 24 Hours, despite his team agonisingly losing victory late on in 2026.
The four-time Formula 1 world champion was set for a dominant debut win aboard the #3 Mercedes GT3 he shared with Juncadella, Jules Gounon and Lucas Auer. But then, a driveshaft failure emerged with three hours remaining, forcing Juncadella to pit from the lead and effectively hand victory to the sister Winward Mercedes.
When asked by Motorsport.com how Verstappen was feeling, Juncadella said: “Heartbroken like all of us. But at the end of the day as well, he came here without any fear to face himself against the best in our job. He excelled in what he did.
“He gave an amazing show to all the people. This created an amazing awareness for motorsport for the future, and he had a lot of fun.
“Of course, he’s a competitive character like myself, like all of us, and we want to win. Our ultimate dream is not complete, but maybe that’s a reason for him to come back again next year.”
Verstappen delivered a faultless performance at the Nordschleife, particularly impressing in his first and second stints where he took the overall lead both times and set lap times others failed to match.
A late driveshaft issue hit the team’s hunt for glory
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
It comes amid increasing endurance racing commitments for the Dutchman, who Juncadella thinks is also interested in contesting fellow 24-hour races at Le Mans and Spa-Francorchamps.
“Just a dream come true,” said Juncadella, when asked how it was sharing the car with Verstappen. “I didn’t make it to Formula 1, unfortunately, but I did race with Max Verstappen around the Nordschleife.
“I enjoyed all the time I spent with him, everything we shared, everything he learned from us with our experience, and everything we learned from him. To many more, hopefully.”
But even if Juncadella and Verstappen do not reunite for another endurance race, the 35-year-old Spaniard was still left reeling from all the lessons he has taken this weekend.
“It’s very easy to learn stuff from a four-time Formula 1 world champion,” he added. “He’s an amazing talent. He’s also very strong technically, just a very good all-rounder – I think probably the biggest talent we will ever witness.
“One of my strengths also as a driver is to be a bit like a sponge and try to learn as much as possible from my team-mates. I think that’s something I did. I showed on track also that I delivered some incredible performances during this weekend.
“That’s also thanks to his support and his knowledge and what we share. Let’s not forget Jules and Lucas. When you’re surrounded by good people and by cool team-mates and you enjoy it, I think that’s when you deliver.”
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– The Autosport.com Team
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