Nurburgring Qualifying Results: Max Verstappen knocked off top spot

Thursday's Qualifying sessions at the Nurburgring 24 Hours are now officially in the books with the presence of four-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen creating huge interest.

The mighty Dutchman and his Mercedes team were third in the standings after the opening afternoon session, and the brutal weather (including heavy rain) meant none of those leading afternoon times were bettered.

There was an early incident during the first qualifying session, where the No. 900 Black Falcon Team Zimmermann Porsche caught fire at the Schumacher S.

Alexander Hardt had gotten out of the car, but was standing next to it, while Janina Schall in the No. 146 Giti Tires by WS Porsche slammed into it. Both drivers got out of the car and were okay.

Meanwhile, Verstappen took charge of the first Q1 session segment. After completing two installation laps, he returned with just over an hour remaining. His first attempt produced an 8:47.982, but the four-time world champion soon improved to 8:18.539, momentarily posting the fastest lap – eight seconds ahead of ROWE Racing’s duo of BMWs. However, numerous incidents on track meant that slow zones and Code 60 areas skewed the timing.

Dani Juncadella was the next to take to the track, followed by Jules Gounon, though neither managed a better time. With half an hour left, Fabian Schiller -sharing the Ravenol Mercedes-AMG number 80 with Maro Engel, Maxime Martin, and Luca Stolz - set the best lap of Q1 with his 8:14.957. Raffaele Marciello in the ROWE BMW number 1 finished 3.112 seconds behind, while Verstappen’s car slid back into third.

Shortly after Schiller and Marciello’s rapid runs, rain and even hail began to fall on parts of the circuit. The precipitation came down so gently at times it almost resembled a light snowfall, and no significant improvements were recorded in the final twenty minutes.

In the end, Schiller held on at the top, with Marciello and Verstappen trailing behind. Lucas Auer managed several laps in the rain during the final moments, using the Verstappen Racing car to get a feel for the wet conditions. Rounding off the top five were Dan Harper in the ROWE BMW number 99 and Thomas Preining in the Manthey Porsche number 911.

The evening session, starting at 8pm local time, lasted for three-and-a-half hours with Verstappen due to go out last in the final hour. However the heavy rain limited the Dutchman to just a single timed lap with 45 minutes remaining - a mandatory requirement for him to complete night stints during the race proper on Saturday and Sunday.

Kelvin van der Linde set the fastest lap at 9:19.884 in ROWE Racing’s No. 1 BMW before the rain returned.

The action continues on Friday with a further Qualifying session and also three Top Qualifying sessions - they will set the grid for Saturday's race proper.

Nurburgring 24 Hours: Watch Top Qualifying LIVE and free today

Nurburgring 24 Hours Qualifying Results 2026

How does Nurburgring 24 Hours Qualifying work?

Qualifying is divided into six different sessions at the Nurburgring, with the first two-hour stint taking place on Thursday afternoon, May 14.

The second qualifying session takes place later that evening, where we have a three-and-a-half-hour session beginning at 8pm local time (7pm UK). On Friday afternoon, May 15, there is a third qualifying session of 65 minutes.

The first three qualifying sessions of the week are purely free practice for Verstappen and his GT3 competitors; they only determine the grid for the lower classes, whereas the starting grid for the SP 9 class is determined by Top Qualifying on Friday.

Nurburgring 24 Hours Qualifying Schedule

The schedule for all Qualifying sessions looks like this:

Thursday, May 14
First Qualifying: 12:15 - 14:15 UK time
Second Qualifying: 19:00 - 22:30 UK time

Friday, May 15
Top Qualifying 1: 09:15 - 09:45 UK time
Top Qualifying 2: 10:05 - 10:35 UK time
Third Qualifying: 11:00 - 12:05 UK time
Top Qualifying 3: 12:35 - 13:35 UK time

Watch Nurburgring 24 Hours Qualifying LIVE

You can watch today’s sessions live and free without leaving GPFans - simply click on the embed below to enjoy every second from the Nurburgring:

Nurburgring 24 Hours: Full 161-car entry list including Max Verstappen

Written by

Sheona Mountford - F1 Journalist

Sheona Mountford is a motorsport journalist specialising in F1. As a writer and contributor, she covers a wide range of motorsport series from F1 to F1 Academy, responsible for breaking news, live race coverage and in depth analysis of the sport and the culture around it.

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