Max Verstappen Impresses Immediately at Nürburgring

Max Verstappen immediately attracted attention during the opening qualifying practice session for the 2026 Nürburgring 24 Hours after delivering a highly competitive performance in his endurance racing debut with a Mercedes AMG GT3.

The Red Bull Formula 1 driver is competing for Verstappen Racing alongside team-mates Dani Juncadella, Jules Gounon, and Lucas Auer at the legendary Nordschleife event this weekend.

Verstappen wasted no time heading onto the circuit as soon as the session began, immediately drawing massive attention from the tens of thousands of spectators gathered around the Nürburgring Nordschleife.

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Although the session proved difficult because of multiple yellow flags, code 60 interruptions, and a major accident on track, Verstappen still managed to demonstrate impressive pace during his opening stint.

After the first hour of the session, Verstappen finally secured a clean lap and posted a time of 8 minutes 18.539 seconds. The lap was eight seconds faster than the previous benchmark set by Jordan Pepper in the BMW M4 GT3 of ROWE Racing.

For a significant period, Verstappen appeared likely to finish the session on top before eventually slipping to third place near the end.

By the time the order changed, Verstappen had already exited the car after handing over driving duties to Juncadella and later Gounon as part of the team’s endurance programme.

With around 30 minutes remaining, Verstappen’s time was beaten by the Team Ravenol Mercedes-AMG GT3 driven by Fabian Schiller, who posted an 8 minutes 14.957 second lap.

Raffaele Marciello then also improved for ROWE Racing, moving Verstappen down another position before rain arrived late in the session.

The worsening weather conditions prevented most drivers from improving their lap times during the closing stages around the Nordschleife.

Despite missing out on the fastest time, Verstappen’s opening performance immediately underlined his strong potential in his Nürburgring 24 Hours debut with Mercedes GT3 machinery.