Verstappen team qualifies fourth Nürburgring

Max Verstappen’s team will start fourth for the 2026 Nürburgring 24 Hours after Friday’s three-part Top Qualifying session decided the front of the grid. Dani Juncadella put the No. 3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 on the second row with an 8:12.005 lap in Top Qualifying 3, according to Verstappen’s team site. Red Bull Team ABT locked out the front row, with Luca Engstler taking pole in 8:11.123 and Marco Mapelli second in 8:11.468. Nürburgring’s official site said weekend tickets for the May 14-17 event were sold out, with only day tickets for Thursday, Friday and Sunday still available. ### Which car is Verstappen tied to in this race? Max Verstappen is part of the Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing entry, but he was not the driver who sealed fourth on the grid. Verstappen’s team site said Lucas Auer drove in Top Qualifying 1, Verstappen in Top Qualifying 2 and Juncadella in Top Qualifying 3, with a different driver required for each segment. (news.verstappen.com) The No. 3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 advanced through the qualifying cutoffs and ended up 0.882 seconds off pole in the final shootout. Verstappen’s site identified Juncadella’s 8:12.005 as the lap that secured fourth place for the 25.378-kilometre Nordschleife-based event. ### What happened in the session where Verstappen himself drove? (news.verstappen.com) Maro Engel crashed at Hatzenbach in Top Qualifying 2, and the incident triggered a Code 60 that covered most of the session, according to Sportscar365. During that interrupted segment, Verstappen was among the drivers who had already cleared the crash zone and briefly went fastest with an 8:14.459 lap, Dive Bomb reported. (news.verstappen.com) The track returned to green with less than four minutes left, Sportscar365 said, allowing late laps to decide which cars moved into the final 12-car Top Qualifying 3 shootout. That left Verstappen’s team safely through to the final phase rather than on provisional elimination pace. (sportscar365.com) ### Who took pole, and how close was the fight at the front? Luca Engstler put the No. 84 Red Bull Team ABT Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 on pole with an 8:11.123 lap, the official result sheet showed. Marco Mapelli made it a front-row lockout for the same team in the No. 130 Lamborghini with an 8:11.468. (sportscar365.com) Christopher Haase took third for Scherer Sport PHX in an Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II with an 8:11.984, leaving Juncadella fourth by 0.021 seconds. The official Top Qualifying 3 result listed all 12 finalists and confirmed the top four were covered by less than nine-tenths of a second. (24h-rennen.de) ### Why was fourth notable for Verstappen’s entry? Fourth place puts the Verstappen-backed Mercedes-AMG on the second row for one of the biggest GT endurance races in Europe. Verstappen’s team site said the car was provisionally ninth after first runs in Top Qualifying 3 before Juncadella improved on his second flying lap. (24h-rennen.de) The final improvement came after changing track conditions. Verstappen’s team said rain had passed through before the shootout and the circuit had largely dried, though damp patches remained around the Nordschleife. ### What is next, and when does the race start? The 54th ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring starts on Saturday, May 16, at 15:00 CEST and ends 24 hours later on Sunday, May 17, Verstappen’s team site said. (news.verstappen.com) The official Nürburgring site listed the event across May 14-17 and said only single-day tickets remained after weekend passes sold out. Verstappen’s team said viewers can follow the race on Viaplay.com, Red Bull TV and the Red Bull Motorsports YouTube channel. The grid will include the No. 3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing car from fourth and the two Red Bull Team ABT Lamborghinis from the front row. (news.verstappen.com)