Nürburgring 24h Qualifiers: Verstappen starts P9 after penalty in chaotic red-flagged session

The pair, driving a Mercedes AMG GT3 for Verstappen Racing in Red Bull colours, secured a top ten position in a 126 car field ahead of the first of two four hour races this weekend, part of the traditional build up to the Nürburgring 24 Hours in May.

Qualifying began at 8:30 am local time and was scheduled to run for 90 minutes, but the session was heavily impacted early on, forcing teams to adapt their run plans on one of the most demanding circuits in motorsport.

Auer took the wheel for the opening phase and worked through traffic to post an initial benchmark lap, as teams attempted to find clear space across the 25.3 kilometre Nordschleife layout, where multiple classes share the track and clean laps are rarely guaranteed.

The session dynamic changed completely shortly after, with a red flag halting all running and compressing the available track time for the remainder of qualifying.

Around 20 minutes into the session, the red flags were deployed following a heavy crash for Anders Buchardt in the Adenauer Forest section.

The Aston Martin driver struck the barriers at high speed, prompting an immediate stoppage while safety crews repaired damage to the guardrail. The interruption lasted close to 50 minutes, with the session clock paused to preserve the remaining running time.

Once the track was cleared, teams returned to action in a compressed window, increasing the pressure to deliver competitive laps in limited conditions. Traffic and localised yellow flags once again became decisive factors, particularly on a circuit where speed differentials between classes can exceed 50 kilometres per hour.

The Nordschleife’s narrow layout and constant elevation changes further complicate lap execution, making a clean run through all sectors extremely difficult even under normal conditions.

Auer’s early effort of 8:13.012 provided a solid baseline before handing over to Verstappen for the second half of the session.

The Red Bull F1 driver improved that time with an 8:12.302 lap, moving the car up to sixth place by the end of qualifying and securing a competitive starting position for the first race.

Pole position went to the number 23 BMW M4 GT3 Evo entered by Gamota Racing, with two Mercedes entries completing the top three. The number 11 SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm car secured second place, followed by the number 47 KCMG entry in third.

The Nürburgring 24h Qualifiers event features two four hour races across the weekend, providing teams with valuable preparation ahead of the main 24 hour race next month.

The first race is scheduled from 17:30 to 21:30 on Saturday, while Sunday’s programme includes additional qualifying sessions in the morning followed by the second four hour race from 13:00 to 17:00.

Starting sixth, Verstappen and Auer now turn their focus to race execution, where traffic management and consistency across long stints will be critical to moving forward on the grid.