Daniel Juncadella, Max Verstappen’s teammate in the 24 Hours of Nurburgring, a race held last weekend, revealed that the initial plan was for the four-time Formula 1 world champion from Red Bull to start the race on the German track. In an interview with SoyMotor, Juncadella stated that it was Verstappen who decided to change the strategy.
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According to the Spaniard, Verstappen assessed that he could get involved in excessive battles at the start of the race: “On Friday night… Max came up to me and said: ‘I think you should start. I know myself… I know I’m going to want to fight with everyone immediately. It’s better if you start.’”
With that, Juncadella took the start aboard the Mercedes-AMG GT3 #3, fought at the front, and led the first stint before handing the car over to the Dutchman.
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Verstappen Racing’s car ended up suffering a mechanical failure that took away any chance of victory. After the race, the Formula 1 driver sent a simple message to Juncadella: “we will be back, partner.”
The frustration was also highlighted by Jules Gounon, another member. He emphasized the good performance throughout the race at the Nordschleife, until the decisive breakdown about three hours from the end: “The word ‘heartbroken’ probably doesn’t even come close to what we feel now… We were doing everything right… but the Green Hell had other plans… a problem three hours from the end took the victory away from us.”
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