NLS 2026 Schedule: When is Max Verstappen's next chance of redemption at the Nurburgring?

In 2026, the ADAC Nurburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS) is celebrating its 50th season, and what better way to mark such a motorsport milestone than by welcoming four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen.

The Red Bull star made his Nurburgring debut between F1 races in September 2025, having been granted his permit to race around the Green Hell last year.

The 28-year-old then confirmed in March of this year that he would be entering the iconic Nurburgring 24 Hours in May during the F1 2026 championship.

So, in order to rack up vital track time on the Nordschleife, Verstappen returned to race in the NLS between the Chinese and Japanese Grands Prix, schooling the field by taking pole position with Mercedes-AMG team-mates Daniel Juncadella and Jules Gounon, with Verstappen himself clocking the fastest time of a 7:51.751.

The trio went on to win the four-hour endurance race, but just hours after Verstappen's second victory at the track, the No.3 Mercedes team were disqualified after exceeding the maximum tyre allowance.

This painful end to Verstappen's Nurburgring return not only stripped he and his Mercedes team of the win, but also the Dutchman's 100 per cent victory record at the track, although the fact that he clocked extra mileage around the circuit remains one of the only positives he can still take away from the NLS2.

As the clock counts down to the Nurburgring 24 Hours event on May 14 to May 17, when is Verstappen's next chance to redeem himself after the heartbreaking Nordschleife disqualification?

F1 HEADLINES: Max Verstappen disqualified after race win as Red Bull ban confirmed

Will Max Verstappen do more races at the Nurburgring?

Speaking after his second Nurburgring race on Saturday, March 21, but before news broke of Mercedes' late disqualification, Verstappen shed light on where his head was at regarding a future return to the Nurburgring.

The Dutchman 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 and at least finally this year I have the chance to do it, it also depends a bit of course on what the calendar allows me to do, I’m already racing a lot. I’ll try to do as much as I can."

Probed further on the chance that the German crowds could be welcoming Verstappen back to the iconic circuit at the next round in just three weeks time, the F1 champion confirmed: "We’re looking into it. It just all depends on if it’s all feasible but I mean I’m always happy to race here."

In place of the Bahrain GP weekend, which was set to run between April 10 and April 12, Verstappen could theoretically take part in the NLS3, on Saturday, April 11.

Should he then wish to compete in the ADAC 24h Nurburgring Qualifiers, he is now free to do so between April 18 and April 19, which would have clashed with the Saudi Arabian GP if it had not been cancelled.

See the full NLS 2026 schedule below.

READ MORE: Max Verstappen Nurburgring Results: Final NLS2 Race times and positions after Mercedes disqualification

Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

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