Nurburgring 24 Hours 2026: Start time and watch live today as Max Verstappen bids for victory

Verstappen pole in NLS2 — Photo: © IMAGO

Nurburgring 24 Hours

Nurburgring 24 Hours: Start time and watch live as Max Verstappen bids for victory

Verstappen begins his victory bid today - watch it live!

Graham Shaw Consultant Editor

Digital sports specialist running global brands for 30 years

Saturday 16 May 2026 07:35 Updated: 08:17

Max Verstappen and his No.3 Mercedes-AMG team will begin their bid for victory at the Nurburgring 24 Hours race today (Saturday May 16) and you can follow all of the action live without leaving GPFans.

Team Verstappen will begin the iconic race from fourth position on the grid after a thrilling Top Qualifying on Friday, where Dani Juncadella clocked a lap time of 8:12.005 to claim a spot on the second row.

Pole was claimed by the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 team with Luca Engstler at the wheel of the No.84 car. He set a blistering time of 8:11.123.

Lamborghini made it a front row lockout when Marco Mapelli claimed P2 in the No.130 car, with Verstappen's great Nurburgring rival Christopher Haase qualifying in third for Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II in the No.16 car.

Nurburgring 24 Hours: Rules and regulations as Max Verstappen races into action

Schedule and start time

The big race, which of course lasts for 24 hours as the name suggests, gets under way at 3pm local CET today (Saturday), which is 2pm in the UK. It will finish of course at 3pm local time (2pm UK) on Sunday.

Check out the table below for the corresponding start time in your locale:

Location / Timezone	Local Time
Central Europe (CET/CEST)	3:00 PM
UK (BST)	2:00 PM
US & Canada (Eastern)	9:00 AM
US & Canada (Central)	8:00 AM
US & Canada (Pacific)	6:00 AM
Australia (Sydney)	11:00 PM
Australia (Melbourne)	11:00 PM

Watch the race LIVE

We will have full live coverage of the race in its entirety - just click on the embed below for pictures and commentary throughout:

When will Max Verstappen be driving

Of course Verstappen cannot drive the entire 24 hours on his own - there are at least some things even he cannot do. He will share duties with team-mates Lucas Auer, Jules Gounon and Dani Juncadella.

Per Vincent Bruins of GPFans Netherlands, our GT3 expert and man on the ground at the Nurburgring, strategy will be somewhat fluid.

"Teams usually decide that in briefings later this afternoon (Friday) or this evening for the first part of the race. The strategy and driver stints for later in the race aren't usually decided until we're in the race itself.

"It depends on how the drivers feel, what the conditions are etc. A starting driver list usually won't be released until an hour before the race."

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