The official live broadcasts of the qualifying sessions that will decide pole position for the 24 Hours of Nürburgring at the legendary Nordschleife are now underway.
24h Nürburgring: recap of Q1 and Q2
A classic Nürburgring day — as typical as it gets from a weather perspective — welcomed the start of track action on Thursday at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring. The fastest overall time across Q1 and Q2 — although for the SP9 class crews, featuring the top GT3 cars and professional drivers, these sessions effectively served only as practice, with no grid positions yet at stake — went to the number 80 Mercedes-AMG GT3 driven by Maro Engel, Luca Stolz, Fabian Schiller and Maxime Martin.
Only third fastest was Max Verstappen, who also finished behind the number 1 BMW M4 of reigning champions Team Rowe, fielding Jordan Pepper, Augusto Farfus, Raffaele Marciello and Kelvin Van Der Linde.
The quickest lap times were set during Q1, the daytime session held in more stable weather conditions. In contrast, the three-and-a-half-hour Q2 session held later in the evening saw limited running due to heavy rain, which at times flooded sections of the track and prevented crews from improving on their earlier benchmark times.
That mattered little for the leading teams, however, as Friday’s action will decide the top 49 grid positions through the “Top Qualifying” 1, 2 and 3 sessions, which follow an elimination format similar to Formula 1 qualifying.
The qualifying format: Max Verstappen’s team starts immediately
There is, however, one small but significant exception. The five crews that achieved the strongest results in the 2026 Nürburgring events automatically qualify directly for Top Qualifying 3, avoiding the need to fight through the earlier knockout stages.
That is not the case for the number 3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 entered by Verstappen.com Racing. Max Verstappen and his teammates — Lucas Auer, Daniel Juncadella and Jules Gounon — did not secure standout results in their previous Nordschleife outings this season, with disqualifications and retirements affecting their campaign. As a result, they must begin their pole position fight from Top Qualifying 1 and progress through Top Qualifying 2.
There is an important strategic wrinkle: any driver who takes part in the opening session is required to hand over the car to a teammate for the following sessions, meaning Max Verstappen and the team will need to choose carefully when he takes the wheel.
24h Nürburgring qualifying live stream
It promises to be another spectacular day at the Green Hell, with Friday’s sessions deciding the starting grid. In addition to the three Top Qualifying sessions that will determine the first 49 positions, there will also be a Q3 session to establish the leading places among the remainder of the field, from 50th down to 161st.
Track action begins at 10:15 with Top Qualifying 1, while the battle for pole position in Top Qualifying 3 will take place over a one-hour session from 13:35 to 14:35. The full session timetable is available here.
As always, Friday’s full qualifying programme will be streamed live on the official 24 Hours of Nürburgring YouTube channel, featuring the traditional English-language broadcast with full TV direction, along with several onboard camera streams from selected cars.
The recommendation remains the same: stay on this page to enjoy both the main live TV coverage and the onboard live footage from Max Verstappen’s number 3 Mercedes simultaneously.
This qualifying marathon serves as the perfect buildup to one of the world’s most grueling endurance races, ensuring that every driver and machine is tested to the limit before the main event even begins. With the unpredictable Eifel weather always a factor, the fight for pole position at the Nordschleife promises to be a masterclass in precision and strategy.
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