Max 32nd in last session before top qualifying

Published on 19 April 2026 by Florence Cobben

Following the tragic accident in the first race of the 24h Qualifiers at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, which claimed the life of 66-year-old driver Juha Miettinen, the race weekend will resume today. Drivers will be participating in a qualifying, top qualifying, and the weekend’s second race. The cars display black ribbons next to their start numbers, and a minute of silence will be observed before the race in memory of the Finnish driver.

Today’s qualifying runs a bit differently from the usual format. For most GT3 teams – including Verstappen Team Racing – it’s effectively a practice session. The real battle comes later in top qualifying, where each team gets two runs on a completely clear track (free from traffic from slower cars), in a bid to take pole position. For the slower classes, however, this session is their best chance to secure a strong starting spot on the grid.

After qualifying, Max shares his thoughts: “It’s been something I’ve wanted to do for a while. I’ve been watching a lot of endurance racing, and this is definitely one of the most 'hard-core' ones. Now that I have my first opportunity to do it, I’m very excited. Let’s see how it goes.”

“Honestly (I want to get) more racing experience, get even more comfortable in the car. Seeing the conditions as well... we’ve been driving in the wet now, hopefully it’ll be dry after. But there might be some wet spots, the grass will be wet, so you have to be a little bit careful when you go off-line to overtake cars. So it’s good for me get all the conditions.”

After a rain delay, the session gets underway. Lucas Auer is the first to take Team Verstappen Racing’s Mercedes-AMG GT3 for a spin, heading out on wet-weather tyres. His opening stint puts the team in second place, behind the #80 Mercedes-AMG Team RAVENOL.

Max is passed the baton, and he heads out on the same set of tyres but manages to improve on the team’s best time by about 10 seconds. As the track begins to dry rapidly, lap times continue to fall across the field. Although the #80 car also improves, it remains about half a second slower.

Max returns to the pits and the team makes the decision not to head out again, in order to safe tyres for the top qualifying later today (10:40 a.m.). As the track continues to improve, other teams set faster and faster laps, pushing Verstappen Racing down to 32nd. The honor of fastest time goes to #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport.

Click here for the results of the qualifying session on Sunday 19 April, 24h Qualifiers.