24h Nurburgring: Max Verstappen is in the 2026 edition
It is the highlight event of the entire weekend, at least when we talk about four-wheel categories, and who knows, maybe even the entire racing season of Max Verstappen. At the Green Hell, the engines are warming up for the 2026 24 Hours of Nurburgring which, as usual, takes place on the legendary Nordschleife track that stretches over 20 km of thrilling ups and downs, elevated hairpins, blind corners, and extremely challenging sections. A decidedly long weekend, because the engines start firing on Thursday for the first qualifying sessions to determine the starting grid for cars from 50th to the last place (161st).
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The qualifying sessions: the format
Specifically, it will start with the first two hours of Q1, scheduled from 13:15 to 15:15, which for the main GT3 class teams (in fact, the premier category is called SP9 according to the NLS and ADAC championship regulations) including Verstappen’s team, will be used as a simple practice session. The preparatory show for the 24 hours taking place between Saturday and Sunday continues at night, with Q2 scheduled between 20:00 and 23:30 on Thursday: this session is also a practice for the main teams, but they are required to participate or face exclusion from the race.
The 49 main teams start getting serious only from Friday: from 10:15 to 10:45 the Top Qualifying 1 (TQ1), which Max Verstappen is obliged to attend as he did not automatically qualify for the final phase (based on results in previous races). From 11:05 to 11:35 there is then room for TQ2, with further eliminations ahead of the final session where the fight for pole position will take place: TQ3 is scheduled from 13:35 to 14:35 on Friday, after the hour of Q3 in which the final starting grid will also be defined for cars in the lower categories (from 50th place onwards).
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24 Hours in the Hell
These are still very important sessions for the final result because, while it is true that in a 24-hour race the starting position is never really decisive, it is equally true that on a circuit like the Nurburgring Nordschleife it can be crucial to be pushing on a relatively clear track rather than fighting in traffic among much slower cars. The most important day is obviously Saturday, with a warm-up hour scheduled from 10:00 to 11:00 in the morning, ahead of the starting procedure, which will begin at 14:40 with a full formation lap of the Green Hell. At 15:00 the green flag will start the race, which will end exactly 24 hours later, at 15:00 on Sunday.
The detailed schedule
Below are the times of all the sessions of the 2026 24 Hours of Nurburgring:
- Q1: Thursday, May 14, 2026, from 13:15 to 15:15
- Q2: Thursday, May 14, 2026, from 20:00 to 23:30
- TQ1: Friday, May 15, 2026, from 10:15 to 10:45
- TQ2: Friday, May 15, 2026, from 11:05 to 11:35
- Q3: Friday, May 15, 2026, from 12:00 to 13:05
- TQ3 (pole position): Friday, May 15, 2026, from 13:35 to 14:35
- Warm-up: Saturday, May 16, 2026, from 10:00 to 11:00
- 24 Hours of Nurburgring: from 15:00 on Saturday, May 16, 2026 to 15:00 on Sunday, May 17, 2026
How to follow Max Verstappen live
All weekend sessions will be broadcast for free on YouTube on the official 24 Hours of Nurburgring channel, both with the TV director’s streaming images and with onboard footage from the cockpits of the most important cars, including the Mercedes-AMG GT3 number 3 of Daniel Juncadella, Jules Gounon, Lucas Auer and, of course, Max Verstappen. On FormulaPassion.it, day by day we will provide the main updates as well as prepare dedicated articles from which to follow live images directly from the Nurburgring.
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