Max Verstappen back at the Nürburgring: GT3 Qualifiers, night running and new pairing confirmed. Max Verstappen returns to the Nürburgring Nordschleife for the 24 Hours Qualifiers.

Verstappen returns to Nürburgring for 24h Qualifiers with a new teammate

While the Formula 1 paddock is experiencing a long break following the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix, Max Verstappen is using the time to complete his preparation for the Nürburgring 24 Hours. The Dutch driver will take part this weekend in the crucial “Qualifiers”, an important step ahead of the endurance marathon scheduled for 16–17 May.

Verstappen will once again tackle the legendary Nordschleife at the wheel of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO entered by his own team and supported technically by Winward Racing. For this event, he will share the car with Austrian driver Lucas Auer for the first time.

A night-time debut on the road to the 24 Hours

As mentioned, the “Qualifiers” are not just for fun, but represent a key milestone in Verstappen’s preparation programme for the Nürburgring 24 Hours on 16 May. Compared to his previous appearances in the NLS series, this weekend’s event offers two major new challenges.

First, the race will take place on the exact 24-hour layout including the GP section. In particular, in the opening sector drivers will only use part of the first corner, before immediately turning left and skipping the long bends of turns two and three, heading straight into the central section of the circuit.

In addition, Saturday’s race will finish around 21:30, giving Verstappen his first opportunity to experience the full 25 km of the Green Hell in darkness.

First race alongside Auer

For this occasion, the line-up will be reduced to just two drivers. Since teammates Jules Gounon and Dani Juncadella will be competing in the 6 Hours of Imola with Alpine and Genesis, Verstappen will reunite with Lucas Auer.

Auer, nephew of Gerhard Berger and a driver who previously raced and battled with Max Verstappen in the 2014 European Formula 3 season, finished fourth in that championship, just behind Max Verstappen in third place, with Esteban Ocon taking the title and Tom Blomqvist finishing second.

For Verstappen, this will be the first real opportunity to build on-track chemistry with Auer, the only one of his three teammates this year with whom he has not yet shared a race seat. Verstappen himself joked about the situation when confirming his participation in the “Qualifiers”:

“At the moment for the Qualifiers there was only Lucas in the car… I felt bad leaving him to race alone for four hours!”

Return to the Nürburgring after disqualification

Verstappen arrives in the Eifel region also motivated by a strong desire for redemption. In his last NLS2 appearance in March, despite dominating with unmatched pace, the team was disqualified after the race due to a technical irregularity linked to the use of seven sets of tyres instead of the allowed six.

Despite the bureaucratic setback, pure performance was never in question. With Red Bull colours on his Mercedes number 3, Verstappen is now focused on fine-tuning the final details ahead of the major May event.

Where and when to watch the races

Both four-hour races will be streamed on the ADAC YouTube channel with English commentary. The schedule is as follows:

• Saturday 18/4: Race 1 (4 hours) finishing in the evening
• Sunday 19/4: Race 2 (4 hours) in the afternoon