Nurburgring 24 Hours: Latest weather forecast from Germany as Max Verstappen tackles iconic race

Four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen is set to tick off another legendary race from his motorsport bucket list this weekend as he heads to Germany for the Nurburgring 24 Hours.

The iconic endurance race will see Verstappen share the No.3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo with three seasoned racers as they take it in turns to tackle the infamous Nordschleife circuit known as 'The Green Hell'.

The Dutchman will be joined by Jules Gounon (Andorra/France), Dani Juncadella (Spain) and Lucas Auer (Austria) for the event which will take place between Thursday May 14 and Sunday May 17, and for the first time in it's 56-year history, has sold out.

But this won't be the average race weekend for Verstappen. The Red Bull star has become accustomed to the more laidback F1 schedule which rarely sees him spend more than two hours in a car at any given grand prix.

So, how will he fare now he has to fight against tiredness and fatigue at the wheel, especially during the overnight driving stints? And how will the weather impact his running? Let's find out.

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Nurburgring 24 Hours weather forecast

Thursday, May 14: Qualifying 1 & Qualifying 2

After Verstappen's return to the Nordschleife in March of this year, he will once again drive for his very own Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing, with Thursday's first full circuit qualifying session set to take place at 1:15pm local time (CEST), or 12:15 BST until 3:15pm CEST (2:15pm BST).

And it appears that it won't just be the racing that is brutal with quite harsh weather conditions currently forecast. After reports of potential snowfall in the village of Nurburg earlier this week, there were still wind gust warnings cast over the area in West Germany into the late hours of Wednesday.

Temperatures during Thursday's qualifying 1 will range from seven to eight degrees Celsius, with a chance of thunderstorms hover over the final 15 minutes of the session, with a 61 per cent chance of rain.

Qualifying 2 will then kick off in calmer conditions thanks to the later start time of 8pm CEST. Temperatures will once again sit at around seven degrees Celsius with a much lower chance of rain forecast (20 per cent at the session start time).

As the session continues and the event runs further into the night, temperatures will naturally drop. Across the final qualifying stint, lows of four degrees Celsius are to be expected, accompanied by a gentle breeze of 13 km/h but a high humidity level of 88 per cent.

Friday, May 15: Top Qualifying

Friday will then see ‘Top Qualifying’ sessions take place from 10:15am local time until 14:35pm CEST. These will decide pole position for Saturday's 24 hour race.

The sun may even make an appearance on Friday morning, albeit through the clouds which are likely to cover the circuit.

Temperatures throughout Friday's Top Qualifying sessions will range from seven to 10 degrees Celsius, with the final 'Top Qualifying 3' stint even forecast to have a real feel of 13 degrees. The chance of rain will dip from 47 per cent to 19 per cent during the first hour of track running on Friday before rising to 34 per cent in the early afternoon.

Saturday, May 16: Race Day

The big race in Germany gets under way on Saturday May 16 at 3pm local time (2pm UK, 9am Eastern in the US) and goes through to the same time on Sunday May 17.

Temperatures of 10 degrees Celsius are currently forecast for the race start time but due to the 24-hour nature of the event, will greatly differ throughout, with temperatures likely to drop dramatically as drivers swap over to tackle overnight driving duties.

Morning showers shouldn't interrupt the race, but due to the exceptionally vast nature of the Nordschleife, track conditions may also differ with some parts of the track remaining wet whilst others have dried up under small patches of sunshine.

Heading into the second half of the race before Sunday's final hours, drivers will have to contend with temperatures as low as two degrees Celsius.

Sunday, May 17: Race day continued

Periods of sunshine are forecast for the final day of the Nurburgring 24 Hours with less than a 10 per cent chance of rain throughout the morning.

The field could be in for a dramatic race finish however as the chance of rain is forecast to reach up to 30 per cent in the final hour of the event.

Temperatures will sit between two degrees Celsius at sunrise and 12 degrees Celsius by the time the chequered flag waves.

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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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