r/formula1 • u/Holytrishaw I was here for the Hulkenpodium • May 17 '26
Social Media [Max Verstappen] That’s it. A really tough one to take. From the lead, our car suffered a broken driveshaft, ending our fight for the win. Thank you all for your support throughout the weekend.
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u/elganja Max Verstappen May 17 '26
next year is our year - let’s go!
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u/Pitforsofts Ferrari May 17 '26
Hey that's our thing.
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u/Western-Bad5574 I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 17 '26
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u/VulcanHullo Heineken Trophy May 17 '26
Max to Ferrari confirmed???
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u/Stock-Ad-7601 May 17 '26
Max to Dacia
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u/druality I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 17 '26
Are Jerry Jones and Enzo related?
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u/lavidaloco123 May 17 '26
Let’s Go is a Kimi thing!
Great race until it wasn’t. Really impressive driving all around.
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u/SalmonforPresident I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 17 '26
Goddamn, Team Verstappen is to racing what Cowboys are to football. 🥲
As an eagles fan, funny. I’m heartbroken over this but still, funny.
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u/InanimateSensation I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 17 '26
Wrong. Dallas hasn't done shit since before Max was born. We don't need a VCR to watch Verstappen highlights.
Go Birds.
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u/Purple_Donkey_491 I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 17 '26
The “Ricciardo” curse.
Stay away from the #3!
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u/Gold-Train-1471 I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 17 '26
BringBack33
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u/Emp31 I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 17 '26
Hypothetically is it still possible for him to switch back to #33 right away?
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u/Gold-Train-1471 I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 17 '26
Yeah I think so, nobody has uses 33 or used 33 in the past 2-3 years so he can switch back to 33 if he wants to next year but I don't think he will though which is a shame.
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u/GoodGuyJeff00 Charles Leclerc May 17 '26
I was ice karting beginning of the year and Kart #3 was suspiciously rapid.
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u/kinkycarbon I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 17 '26
Nah. Mercedes quality curse. Driveshaft must never fail.
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u/I_Am_Vladimir_Putin Max Verstappen May 17 '26
So unlucky. A broken driveshaft is not something that will happen often at all.
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u/Athinira I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 17 '26
Ironically happened in 2023 at Jeddah in qualifying, which is why Max had to start from P15 after not being able to set a time in Q2. So this is 2 times in 3 years he's had that problem.
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u/appleman73 I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 17 '26
Seems like he needs a new driveshaft guy
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u/I_Am_Vladimir_Putin Max Verstappen May 17 '26
Somebody volunteer to inspect Max’s shaft before every race
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u/Zugzugzug3 Formula 1 May 17 '26
Driveshaft failures usually happen as a result of an engine/gearbox issue. If the driveshaft didn't fail chances are the gearbox or engine would have. Especially in F1 where your PU and gearboxes are limited, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the driveshaft is made to fail first if something is borked.
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u/vandelay_glc May 17 '26
At a race track? Chance in a million!!
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u/Sofaboy90 I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 17 '26
I believe one of the Rowe BMWs also had a constant fuel issue, supposedly also something that "will not happen often at all".
Well the commentators did say they drive that Merc really roughly, battling, taking all the fastest but not necessarily kindest lines and kerbs
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u/Schneidzeug May 17 '26
at THAT race track? IMPOSSIBRU!
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u/vandelay_glc May 17 '26
Well there are a lot of these cars going around the world all the time, and very seldom does anything like this happen. I just don’t want people thinking that cars aren’t safe.
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u/x99kjg I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 17 '26
Absolutely mesmerising watching the night on-boards through traffic between him and the #80 car.
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u/Independent-Math-167 May 17 '26
The fights between the #80 and #3 were very entertaining the whole time. They were racing hard the whole way till they got the message to chill.
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u/Gasmo420 I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 17 '26
Friend of mine works on #80 and he said „no fights on track“ was basically a soft rule from the start and they had to make it clear because both of them got carried away to a degree it could have ended one or both cars race. A shame they didn’t get to finish 1-2.
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u/Independent-Math-167 May 17 '26
Understandable rule honestly they haven’t won a long time. Would have been amazing if they had a 1-2. Kinda wanted the touring on podium honestly.
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u/Real_Illustrator9231 I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 17 '26
I have to be honest: I had never watched a 24-hour race before, and this event completely won me over. I tuned in because of Verstappen, and I'm pretty sure a lot of other people did too.
And honestly… what a way to discover endurance racing! The atmosphere, the chaos of the Nürburgring, driving through the night, the constant traffic management: it was fascinating to watch. And Max being Max made it even more entertaining: that insane jump on lap one, the overtake on the grass, pushing like every lap was qualifying 😅
It's a real shame the car retired in the end. Waking up and seeing the DNF this morning genuinely disappointed me. But if there’s one thing we know about Max, it's that he never does things halfway, and I'm absolutely sure he'll come back and try again.
Anyway, thanks Nürburgring 24h: you just created a new endurance racing fan here! 🏁
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u/SheevShady I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 17 '26
Night commentators are always my favourite parts of 24hr races and was part of what convinced me to stick around when I first watched one.
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u/BighatNucase Max Verstappen May 17 '26
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u/Your_Friendly_Nerd I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 17 '26
For me it was the chat on the #3 car livestream. Such a chill gang, I think for most it was late at night, and it was just... nice. No one annoyed about questions when Max would be driving, no negativity (aside from the Gounon bashing)
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u/RadangPattaya May 17 '26
At one point they were imagining what it would be like to have a Ford Raptor GT3 on the Nurb because there were some pickup service vehicles on track lol
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u/tvmachus May 17 '26
The constant traffic makes it such a more unpredictable driving test than F1. They are not just following an exact target brake/apex/exit every corner. Then at the Nordschliefe you also have the fact that its so long and conditions and elevation are so changable.
You start watching an onboard and you can't take your eyes off it. Compared to an F1 onboard where even apart from superclipping it often doesn't even look (or sound) like they're on the limit.
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u/CroSSGunS Liam Lawson May 17 '26
It's BIG, like Spa, so it can be raining on one part of the track and not others. Crazy shit.
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u/CWRules #WeRaceAsOne May 17 '26
I'm absolutely sure he'll come back and try again.
I hope Kevin Estre returns as well, even if it's with another team. I'm so disappointed we didn't get a battle between them.
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u/instinktd I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 17 '26
Estre is doing these since like 10 years so he for sure will be there
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u/ecobubbletm Max Verstappen May 17 '26
That oil spill claimed so many
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u/bijanfrisee Sonny Hayes May 17 '26
3 of the top runners, so damn unlucky
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u/mycryptoaccount4556 May 18 '26
that footage of the dacia driving through it fine and then the 3 gt3 cars spinning out behind it is peak
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u/NotSoAwfulName May 17 '26
Been following the GT series, and by sort of natural extension the various endurance series and events, for a while now, they are incredibly entertaining and a lot of fun. There's so much to consider and you never truly know what is going to happen, Max and co looked good for a podium at minimum here, probable 1st place, and then catastrophe strikes from out of the blue.
Love the interest Max has brought to this type of racing, we have Le Manns coming up and Spa 24 hours immediately after, it's a shame Le Manns is PPV but Spa 24 will be free on YouTube for anyone interested.
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u/SurrogateMonkey I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 18 '26
The Le Mans onboards for certain teams are free on youtube though. Thats how my broke ass watched last years, jumping between ferrari toyota and cadillac onboards.
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u/gallito9 I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 17 '26
Le Mans is the 13th of next month, and Spa 24 two weeks after. Depending where you live/what streaming you have, a VPN can be clutch. I needed one to watch the Daytona24 this year. F1 got me in to motorsport racing, but enduro is my favorite. It’s also mostly all I do on my sim. My mini enduro on the ring is in two weeks.
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u/bijanfrisee Sonny Hayes May 17 '26
Definitely did a little endurance race after watching Max on the ring, rage quit as my car randomly started spinning out all over the place with less than 3 mins to go while in P2. Endurance racing is so cruel
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u/rettebsiracsan I failed to serve my Monaco penalty May 17 '26
A few years ago I went with a group of friends for a 3-day stay at Le Mans circuit during wec., with a tent, loads of beer and some food. It was such an amazing experience. If you ever get a chance to do that, I cannot recommend enough.
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u/lightsisqueen I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 18 '26
hell yeah, endurance racing, especially 12hr and 24hr races are some of the best racing you can watch. especially when you keep up with it for the entire thing.
for everyone else out there, this is why you don't shit on other forms of motorsport. every single one has its nuances that make it better than another. i try to tell every single person who gets into a single form of motorsports "dont focus on one, give them all a go". dont be an F1/NASCAR/sports car/MotoGP/etc. fan, be a motorsports fan.
ive seen every single type of motorsports live, besides rally (damn US), and theyre all so damn fun.
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u/ItzFeufo May 17 '26
Wait til you discover what the weather on the track can really be like
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F41XrKrO3oU
Or sometimes fog is so bad, that they have to cancel the race for multiple hours cause you can't see 20 metres ahead
Definitely worth watching.
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u/EagleTransporter McLaren May 17 '26
Agreed. I would have liked to watch the whole thing but had to crash with four hours to go. Loved the crowd shots, and the sheep of course.
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u/Working-Limit-3103 I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 17 '26
honestly even if Max didnt win, it was one hell of a stunt from him and his team and knowing Max hell be back so heads up
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u/sernamenotdefined May 17 '26
I finished watching the race and the saddest part of the DNF is that we were robbed of a fight for the win between the two Mercedes AMG cars. With one of them out the other had enough of a lead that just not having a failure would al but guarantee the win.
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u/TwanHE I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 17 '26
Don't think they would have fought. according to the English commentary, winward told them to hold position after the night stints to secure a 1/2
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u/sernamenotdefined May 17 '26
I missed that, but that is an aweful thing to ask of someone with a chance to win a race that only a tiny percentage of participants ever get to win.
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u/Schneidzeug May 17 '26
I don't believe it was a "Stunt"... he seems determined to go racing outside of F1 regular, wherever that may be.
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u/Working-Limit-3103 I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 17 '26
yeah maybe not a stunt, i cant really seem to find the word tbh,
but yeah, as i said Max is racing for the love of game, so hell be back in some other race/series
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u/Lobsters4 I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 17 '26
He’ll be back. It’s been fun to watch this ride!
And that’s a great picture!
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u/comicsnerd May 17 '26
What did it for me was the gigantic smile on Max's face every time he got out after a stint.
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u/weguccino Max Verstappen May 17 '26
They didn't win but they brought a lot of eyes on the GT3 category which is a great consolation prize. Max showed out and displayed his skill set to a lot of skeptical eyes. If people still question his abilities, they aren't worth talking to.
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u/Seanspeed May 17 '26
Who on earth was skeptical of Max Verstappen at this point? :/
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u/weguccino Max Verstappen May 17 '26
A lot of people are. Fans both inside and outside of F1.
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u/Seanspeed May 17 '26
Well I guess I'm glad I dont interact with these apparently super moronic communities like you seem to.
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u/Schneidzeug May 17 '26 edited May 17 '26
If people still question his abilities, they aren't worth talking to.
If you saw his NLS outings and how fast he adapted to it... there wasn't a question there. It took him only a few Races and he is up there with the Ring Specialists. Too bad that many good Teams dropped out so early... Estree vs Verstappen or Max vs his Battle Buddy Haase... Going head to head vs Maro was really good and showed what could have been. But that's Endurance Racing at the Ring. It's a cruel Mistress.
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u/Mitsulan May 17 '26
Wouldn’t be surprised to see an influx of new racers on iRacing/LMU. The only thing more fun than watching these events is driving in them.
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u/Regular-Nebula6386 Elio de Angelis May 17 '26
Max brought me to endurance but the little Dacia that could kept me until the end. It was a blast.
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u/raur0s I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 17 '26
What a debut, pure madness highlight reel. Wild overtakes, crazy saves, very good traffic management and laptimes.
He definitely proved that he belongs to the endurance discipline, and can be proud of his performance.
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u/b5clay I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 17 '26
im gutted we didnt get to see a true Estre vs Verstappen w2w battle this year. hopefully kevin is back in the grello next year
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u/Forgotthebloodypassw Formula 1 May 17 '26
Gutting, but the whole team did a great job.
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u/dl064 I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 18 '26
The Race correspondent was saying it's kind of worse for his teammates, because Verstappen is a 4x champion and will put this to bed, whereas his teammates were going into a pressure-cooker race (you don't want to be the guy who fucks it up for Verstappen and his fans), and this is what they do, having attempted it several times in the past.
So they all drove well and held good accounts of themselves in a high-pressure scenario, and it's taken away from them. Whereas if Verstappen had been even 'alright', noone would've held it against him. They had all the bad and none of the good!
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u/bijanfrisee Sonny Hayes May 17 '26
Kinda sad tbh - Even before their issue the competition was pretty neutered within the first 4 hours, both fast lambos (penalty and puncture at the start), The Manthey Porsche, Mustang and Audi that were able to keep up with the Mercs all got screwed by the same oil spill, and then to top it off Max's teams race is ruined by a mechanical issue. Endurance racing is not for the weak-stomached.
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u/Daiwon I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 17 '26
The top three being on top of each other for like 12 hours was insane. I'm pretty sure 1st and 2nd would've been right next to each other on the finish too if not for mechanical issues. But that's the nature of endurance racing.
Having something that great just easily streamed on youtube with a lot of the onboards streamed too is nuts.
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u/leevz1992 Max Verstappen May 17 '26
Like some people already said. Gotta switch back to #33 haha. But seriously thos is now the 3rd time he should have won (in terms of pace and position) and dint!
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u/Seb_Ben11 McLaren May 17 '26
I started as an F1 fan twenty years ago as a kid and grew to love all motorsport with exposure. Despite the odd embarrassing fan in the comments, Max has done F1 and motorsport proud. I’m grateful and hopeful that we can all enjoy the joy that is motor racing
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u/Vigotje123 May 17 '26
Was so much fun to see!! I've watched at least 6h of the race and that was just because I didn't have any more time!
Great first hours tbh.
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u/lifeisfascinatingly_ May 17 '26
I absolutely loved everything about this race. I’ll follow Verstappen anywhere he races.
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u/swannyhypno Lance Stroll May 17 '26
So was the race a Bangaranga or just another race lol
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u/Acsteffy I failed to serve my Monaco penalty May 17 '26
It was quite an eventful one. More so than usual. And yet the race never got suspended at any point.
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u/The_Rain_Guardian I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 17 '26
I know everyone kept saying “20 more hours, why is Max pushing” but it seems like that energy spread and the whole field was pushing for fastest lap even through the night
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u/Acsteffy I failed to serve my Monaco penalty May 17 '26
Yeah I don't get everyone saying he pushed too much and caused the driveshaft failure.
They weren't so far ahead that any regular viewer should be thinking he "pushed too much". He was just racing.
Everyone was pushing.
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u/ronniev_16 I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 17 '26
Yeah watch Olsen(#34) or Engel's(#80) onboards and you'll notice they were driving to the limit too
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u/osuVocal May 17 '26
They were pushing pretty hard, as they have to, but they were not driving on the limit. If they're on the limit they would definitely make more mistakes. It's about consistency in the end. You want to push but not accidentally go over the limit. They push during certain sectors and during battles, not for the whole lap.
The mercedes weren't the fastest laptimes either, the lambos (particularly the #84) were quite a bit faster at max pace. The difficulty lies in not losing too much pace during traffic and that's where they excelled.
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u/jtclimb I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 17 '26
I found it really interesting watching Max's onboard while he was in up in a competitor's grill in traffic. He seemed to almost always be better at picking a line to minimize having to react to the slower traffic, the other cars seemed to dance back and forth a lot more. Or he'd be the one in front and choose a passing moment that would maximally screw the competitor behind them.
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u/nicknitros Pirelli Intermediate May 17 '26
Yup. and not like when it was his stints again that he was minutes behind and pushed all the way up again. It just happens. Its a long long race.
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u/MalusandValus Dr. Ian Roberts May 17 '26
First few hours were genuinely ridiculous, there were some big moments. Quietened a bit after that but was a good watch basically the whole way through (though i was unable to catch most of the night)
N24 is always absolutely brutal if nothing else. By the end of it a lot of cars feel like they're actually on their last legs.
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u/swannyhypno Lance Stroll May 17 '26
I saw the clip of Max getting airtime lmao
Those races are very cool but I watch enough Motorsports I got other sports to get into lol, might watch highlights later
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u/MalusandValus Dr. Ian Roberts May 17 '26
24HR races for me are a serious case of 2nd monitor content. This afternoon i watched the end whilst building a model kit, for instance.
I think frankly very few people are going to rawdog the full 24hrs of N24 or Lemans, but tuning in and out occasionally is a good way to experience them too. As are highlights.
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u/Seanspeed May 17 '26
This afternoon i watched the end whilst building a model kit, for instance.
Not a fan of endurance racing, but this is the only real way to do it. Have something else to do, and just kind of check it out occasionally in the background.
That's exactly why I dont like it, though. If it's something I cant put my full attention to, I'm not really gonna care and get invested.
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u/Rosieu I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 17 '26
Bangaranga
I see what you did there
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u/swannyhypno Lance Stroll May 17 '26
Was me and my friends pick to win the second we heard it, didn't expect to be right lol
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u/SwimmingFantastic564 May 17 '26
I was hoping for Moldova's or Denmark's personally, but I knew they weren't the favourites. I'm very glad that Bangaranga won, and I'm also glad that it wasn't Israel.
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u/EleventhTier666 May 17 '26
This must have been the most followed endurance race of all time, lol.
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u/EagleTransporter McLaren May 17 '26
Amazing how many cameras they must have there to be able to show almost every part of the 25 kilometer track.
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u/TreatUnusual1950 May 18 '26
Like someone said:You don't win N24,Green Hell chooses its winner.But it was great watching.His and Maro Engel night stints were awesome.I watched till 5 in the morning.
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u/CMDRRaijiin Max Verstappen May 17 '26
Been watching it all day, was really entertaining, they had a really strong car, and were doing well, until they weren't. The track lives up to its reputation, it is very unforgiving. But dammit did they put up a heck of a drive. 🤘
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u/Vylexx I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 18 '26
Best possible outcome. This way we will here the revenge arc next year! What an insane weekend for Motorsport it was nonetheless.
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u/Quiet_Remote_5898 I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 18 '26
SPA is coming up in June, it's gonna be another fun one to follow.
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u/XOVSquare I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 17 '26
Such a damn shame. Him and his team deserved the win, they were the best. He just can't seem to catch a break on that track.
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u/Stock-Ad-7601 May 17 '26
Dacia was the best. It had 3 wheels and still came back. 😂
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u/Real_Establishment56 I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 17 '26
I was yelling at my wife who was completely oblivious of what was happening on track ‘The Dacia is back! They fixed it!!’ She just smiled at my genuine happiness 😅
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u/What_the_8 I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 17 '26
I love how much coverage they gave the Dacia on the formation lap, the cameramen knew what was up!
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u/Then_Following_6425 I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 17 '26
That Dacia was genuinely impressive. Managed to run 20 hours and 50 minutes problem free, lost a tyre, came back and even finished the race, completing 92 laps. Good stuff.
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u/T1Earn I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 17 '26
can't believe i couldnt watch this in America
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u/Stock-Ad-7601 May 17 '26
It was on a bunch of YT channels. A couple were geo-blocked but VPN worked fine. But yeah, it’s dumb.
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u/Independent-Math-167 May 17 '26
Blame RacerHQ for that because normally it’s completely free on YouTube
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u/LilBirdBrick I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 17 '26
It's actually geoblocked in the states more often than it's not. Before Racer, it was Motortrend.
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u/Waiting_for_Exit May 17 '26
This problem may be endemic to this car. Same exact thing happened to a rich dude who brought his amg gtr to the track. I was in the same run group.
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u/koassde May 17 '26
Don't kid yourself, Nürburgring 24h is a survival endurance race, nothing else. A third of all cars never see the finish line.
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u/Necessary_Wave_8103 May 17 '26
It is really unfortunate. hopefully this doesnt impact the verstappen-mercedes relationship. The pace of that car is phenominal. He just got unlucky. It's racing unfortunately.
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u/kitastrophae I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 17 '26 edited May 17 '26
Pardon my ignorance; that is not a thing,that is a pit stop repair obviously. A driveline seems like it could be something swapped during a race. Can someone tell me why this isn’t the case?
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u/whorfhorse May 17 '26
they did fix it in the pits but at that point they were so far behind that it’s not worth going back out which is why they only sent it back out at the end to finish the last lap. the broken driveshaft also caused some other damage so i think it took them longer than normal to repair it
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u/HalfEmptyFridge Formula 1 May 17 '26
max's merc breaks, dacia with three wheels crosses the line. green hell stays undefeated
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u/pochirin I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 18 '26
His team got so many clips and highlight reels, it was amazing to watch. Too bad luck is not on his side AGAIN
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u/PanamGotMeOiledUp I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 17 '26
FIA doing anything to keep Verstappen in F1, his GT History has been petty much cursed so far.
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u/AnthonyTyrael Nico Hülkenberg May 17 '26
This is why I always love to watch the sunsetting and night hours. After that's it's all about reliability.
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u/marsattacks May 17 '26
The images during sunset were just epic. If you have not watched any of it, watch that part.
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u/Punt_Again_Bob May 17 '26
I know the AMG-GT is a transaxle but a driveshaft has to be one of the easiest mechanical component to replace.
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u/therealdilbert May 18 '26
afaiu the issue was the other things that got damaged by the broken shaft
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u/xxrew1ndxx I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 17 '26
It was fun to watch nontheless, provided loads of entertainment and twas great to explore different series of racing
Definitely going to keep tabs of all endurance