Max Verstappen pushed Nurburgring rival onto the grass after dispute over GT3 lap record

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Max Verstappen’s rivalry with Maro Engel continued in the Nurburgring 24 Hours over the weekend.

Engel was part of Mercedes’ last victory at the event in 2016 and he finally ended their drought with the help of his teammates Luca Stolz, Fabian Schiller and Maxime Martin.

Verstappen.com Racing had been on course for the win in the other Mercedes GT3 entrant, only for Daniel Juncadella to encounter a race-ruining driveshaft issue in the last four hours.

Do you want to see Max Verstappen attempt the 24 Hours of Nurburging again?

Team Verstappen finished 38th after a driveshaft issue cost them the lead!

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Nurburgring driver questioned Max Verstappen’s lap record, and F1 star remembered it

One of the highlights of Verstappen’s race came during his nighttime stint, just before the halfway point of the race, as Engel tried to overtake him for the lead.

Engel saw an opportunity as the duo approached traffic, but Verstappen’s defence was characteristically robust. He eased the sister Mercedes onto the grass, almost causing the German driver to lose control.

The pair made contact multiple times during an intense battle, though they avoided a disastrous crash. An online dispute last year may have increased the intensity.

• READ MORE: Max Verstappen is already planning another 24-hour race if his F1 schedule allows

Amid rumours that Verstappen had broken the GT3 lap record during a test session last May, while using the alias Franz Hermann, Engel wrote on X: “To the topic of the moment. Few facts to Franz Hermann GT3 Nordschleife Test: car was run in DTM spec BoP (less weight, more power, lower ride height than NLS BoP).

“Laptime: 7:48. Still impressive for a first visit to the green hell. Would be cool to see Franz compete.”

After seeing the validity of his lap time questioned, Verstappen replied: “False. Don‘t spread things when you don’t know how the car was setup and our engine settings.

“Why would I join a NLS track day with the wrong BOP? Have a good one tomorrow.”

What Maro Engel has said about his relationship with Max Verstappen

It’s worth noting that Engel quickly backed down at the time, writing: “Seems like paddock chat was incorrect then. You’re clearly in a better position to tell us what you ran. Thnx and same to you.”

But Verstappen’s time in F1 has shown that he holds onto grievances. After accusing Lando Norris of holding him up in qualifying for last year’s Singapore GP, he said: “It will be remembered.”

And going back further, Verstappen’s refusal to let Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez through in a dead-rubber Sao Paulo GP was apparently linked to a crash at Monaco earlier in the 2022 season.

Verstappen suspected that Perez had crashed deliberately at the end of qualifying to ensure he started ahead.

Engel tried to cool talk of a rivalry this weekend, saying (via F1-Insider): “I think it’s mainly the media and outside people who talk about it. The relationship between Max and I is absolutely great, and it was incredible fun to work with him, drive with him, and also to see how he approached this race.”

Revisiting their exchange over the lap record, he added: “We had a brief conversation about this, where I explained, ’Look, I got the information from a team member and didn’t want to rely on rumours. Unfortunately, this was based on incorrect information. That was the end of the story.

“There was a lot more media attention on the topic, but everything is absolutely fine between Max and I.”