Mercedes issue statement after Max Verstappen disqualifed from NLS win

The head of Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing, Stefan Wendl, has issued a statement after Max Verstappen was disqualified from the Nurburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS2).

With no Formula 1 action this weekend, Verstappen entered the four-hour-long event at the iconic Nurburgring Nordschleife on Saturday afternoon along with teammates Daniel Juncadella and Jules Gounon.

The trio were behind the wheel of a Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 and cruised to victory by 59 seconds.

However, it was later revealed that Verstappen and co. had been disqualified due to a rule breach.

It was found that the Winward Racing team had inadvertently used seven sets of tyres during the race, therefore breaching the strict limit of six sets.

The head of Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing, Wendl, has since commented on the disappointment.

As per Racing News 365, a statement read: "The NLS weekend will remain in our memories for a long time: we saw pure racing on the track, experienced an extraordinary day in terms of atmosphere and were initially delighted with the supposed race victory.

"The disappointment was all the greater when we realised that we had made a mistake behind the scenes that morning and the race organisers were forced to disqualify the winning car. That hurts, and naturally everyone involved is very disappointed."

Wendl continued: "It shows once again that you can only win on the Nordschleife if everything comes together. Winward Racing, who managed the deployment of the two Performance cars, were competing in this line-up for the first time in the NLS.

"Now we need to analyse the mistakes, whilst also taking the positive lessons from the weekend on board and focusing on the remaining preparatory races as well as the 24-hour race."

Speaking after the race, before the disqualification was confirmed, Verstappen said: "I've been watching this for a very long time, and it's one of these races that you just want to compete in.

"This year, I finally have the chance to do it. It depends on the calendar and what it allows."

The next NLS race is set to take place on April 11, which has now become a free date for Verstappen after the Bahrain Grand Prix was cancelled.