[Manufacturer info] Fabian Schiller (GER), who has just celebrated his 29th birthday, was the youngest AMG driver in the winning quartet of the Mercedes-AMG Team RAVENOL alongside Maro Engel (GER), Maxime Martin (BEL) and Luca Stolz (GER) at the ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring. The Troisdorf native, who grew up not far from the Nürburgring, made his debut at the endurance classic in 2016. Since then, he has been pursuing one major goal: overall victory at the 24h Nürburgring. In 2022, he already managed to secure a place on the overall podium. Fabian Schiller has been part of the Mercedes-AMG driver line-up since 2020. He has competed in more than 210 races worldwide for the sports car brand. But the great triumph at the Nürburgring holds a special place for him
???: How moving was this victory at the ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring for you?
Fabian Schiller: “This victory means an incredible amount to me. In 2022, I’d already celebrated a second-place finish in the 24h Nürburgring with GetSpeed, alongside Maxi Götz and Adam Christodoulou. After that, I had a really tough time – both at the Nürburgring and at other major 24-hour races like Spa or Daytona. Something always went wrong, whether it was technical or personal. That’s why this success was and still is extremely emotional for me.”
“2026 was a very special race with 352,000 spectators at the track and an incredible atmosphere. I really enjoyed the victory and the podium ceremony, and in the evening we also celebrated a bit together. However, things picked up again straight away on Monday: first off to Spa for testing ahead of the next 24-hour race, and immediately after that I had an event with my new partner Wempe, who were also partners of the 24h Nürburgring. So I haven’t really taken it all in or processed it yet. But I’m going to make a conscious effort to take the time to do that.”
???: In your view, what were the key factors behind this year’s success?
Fabian Schiller: “Mercedes-AMG Motorsport and the Winward Racing team, who competed together at the 24h Nürburgring for the first time, prepared the project meticulously from the outset in collaboration with RAVENOL and Verstappen Racing. We also tried out new approaches, which was certainly a factor in our success in the end. There were other important aspects too. Although we started from 25th on the grid, we were able to work our way forward step by step. The key was choosing the right tyres, which caused the leading group to spread out significantly quite early on, so that we had a comfortable lead with both cars after about eight hours of racing.”
“After that, it was simply a matter of managing the lead and bringing the Mercedes-AMG GT3 safely home. It was, of course, also exciting that our sister car from the Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing was our biggest rival for a long time. Nevertheless, there was always the necessary mutual respect.”
“For Mercedes-AMG, the main goal after ten years was quite clearly to win this race again. On top of that, there were no clashes with other major racing series. This meant that all manufacturers – including us – could field their strongest line-up. We also had a very good Mercedes-AMG GT3, which performed really outstandingly under a wide variety of conditions.”
???: How would you describe the current momentum in GT racing?
Fabian Schiller: “GT racing is booming. Being able to be a part of it is something very special. We offer pure racing, which perhaps doesn’t exist in this form in other racing series. On the one hand, this thrills the fans; on the other, it’s now also attracting big names. Drivers such as Valentino Rossi, Max Verstappen and, most recently, Lance Stroll in the GT World Challenge Europe at Paul Ricard are choosing to race with us. They are, of course, real crowd-pullers. Max Verstappen’s participation in particular has certainly contributed to this year’s popularity surrounding the 24 Hours of Nürburgring and has also brought additional attention to GT racing as a whole.”