Max Verstappen Nurburgring race stopped by red flag after multiple cars in 'very big' crash

Red flag at Nurburgring — Photo: © IMAGO

Max Verstappen at the Nurburgring

Max Verstappen Nurburgring race stopped by red flag after multiple cars in 'very big' crash

Max Verstappen's race came to a halt following a crash with 'six or seven' cars

Originally written by Vincent Bruins. This version is a translation.

Saturday 18 April 2026 18:56

Race 1 of the ADAC 24h Nurburgring Qualifiers was abruptly halted with red flags after less than 30 minutes on track, as a number of cars experienced problems.

The Saturday night session got off to a smooth start without any notable incidents. David Jahn of Gamota-BMW maintained his lead from pole position.

WATCH LIVE: Verstappen at the Nurburgring, watch now as F1 champion races in NLS4

Race halted

But less than 30 minutes into the race, it was red flagged at 16:55:44 UK time following multiple crashes at Klostertal, according to race officials and GPFans.

Article continues under video

The incident happened at a tight hairpin just before the Karussell, where fluids had apparently covered the track. It remains unclear whether every driver emerged unscathed or when the session might be resume, with the race officially suspended by race control with a statement later claiming an update with more 'information' would be provided at 7pm UK time.

It was later confirmed the cars involved were No. 27 PROsport Aston Martin (SP 9), No. 111 JS Competition BMW 325i, No. 121 Keeevin BMW 325i, No. 410 rent2Drive Porsche Cayman (V6), No. 448 Porsche Cayman (V5) and No. 503 GITI TIRE BMW 330i, No. 992 Manthey (SP-Pro).

Race control confirmed an hour after the incident that injured drivers were being attended to.

Bjorn Griesemann driving the 992 Manthey was later confirmed unharmed by his team, as drivers who were stuck behind the wreckage were still making it back to the pits over an hour after the crash.

Misha Charoudin, who was driving right behind the incident, explained what happened to Viaplay: "There was a very big crash. Someone left fluid behind and I think six or seven cars crashed into each other, so there is a huge traffic jam. You approach that stretch at 220 kilometers per hour and if you can't brake..."

Earlier in the race, Mirko Bortolotti, driving for Red Bull ABT-Lamborghini, made a swift move from seventh to second, overtaking Jannes Fittje from Schnitzelalm-Mercedes-AMG just before the stoppage. David Pittard from KCMG-Mercedes-AMG and Christopher Haase of Scherer Sport PHX-Audi rounded out the top five after Daan Pijl (48 LOSCH by Black Falcon-Porsche) made a costly mistake at Breidscheid. Meanwhile, Lucas Auer—Max Verstappen’s teammate—battled with Maximilian Paul (Konrad-Lamborghini), Maro Engel (Ravenol-Mercedes-AMG) and Thomas Preining (Manthey-Porsche) to secure the final spots in the top ten.

F1 HEADLINES: Verstappen suffers penalty frustrating as champion addresses exit talk

F1 Max Verstappen Nürburgring Nurburgring Nordschleife 24 Hours of Nurburgring