Four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen returned to the Nurburgring on Saturday, March 21, this time in a Mercedes as he entered qualifying for the opening round of the Nurburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS) with Verstappen Racing.
The Dutchman claimed pole position in the No.3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 —the same as his F1 driver number — alongside team-mates Daniel Juncadella and Jules Gounon with Verstappen himself clocking the fastest time of a 7:51.751.
Juncadella took charge of the first qualifying laps behind the wheel of the Winward Racing-run AMG, and originally set the the provisional fastest time of an 8:01.310.
Verstappen then took over from his team-mate for a few installation laps before handing the car over to Gounon; but a Code 60 in the final chicane caused by a crash involving Leo-Livius Arne Weber’s Porsche Cayman, meant no significant improvements could be made in that hour.
During the closing stages of qualifying, Verstappen managed to lift the team from 15th on the timesheets and set the fastest time.
Christopher Haas in the No.16 Audi of Scherer Sport PHX set the second fastest time but was 1.974 seconds behind Verstappen, while Raffaele Marciello clocked the third fastest time, 2.855 seconds behind, in the No.98 BMW of ROWE Racing.
Check out the top 20 results from Saturday’s qualifying session below.
WATCH: Max Verstappen Nurburgring LIVE – Free NLS race streams and everything you need to know
Nurburgring Qualifying Results: NLS2 2026
NLS2 Qualifying Results
Position
Driver
Team
Time/Status
1No.3Mercedes-AMG GT37:51.751
2No.16Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II+01.974
3 No.98BMW M4 GT3 EVO+02.855
4No.34Aston Martin Vantage GT3 EVO+03.503
5No.80Mercedes-AMG GT3+03.914
6No.47Mercedes-AMG GT3+04.070
7No.99BMW M4 GT3 EVO+04.905
8No.45Ferrari 296 GT3+05.061
9No.65Ford Mustang GT3+05.664
10No.44Porsche 911 GT3 R+05.770
11No.7Lamborghini Huracan GT3+06.176
12No.48Porsche 911 GT3 R+06.696
13No.77BMW M4 GT3 EVO+06.995
14No.81BMW G81 M3 Touring 24H+07.192
15No.130Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO II+07.439
16No.5Porsche 911 GT3 R+08.465
17No.75Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II+09.515
18No.786Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO II+09.941
19No.23BMW M4 GT3 EVO+10.235
20No.64Ford Mustang GT3+10.732
When is Verstappen competing in the 2026 NLS2 race?
Max Verstappen Nurburgring timetable”>
Max Verstappen Nurburgring Timetable
Date
Local Time (CET)
UK Time (GMT)
Session
March 2108:3007:30Qualifying
March 2111:4210:42Formation lap
March 2112:0011:00Race start
March 2116:0015:00Race finish
How to watch Verstappen’s Nurburgring race
You can watch Verstappen’s GT racing exploits right here on GPFans.
Alternatively, you can catch the action on the official NLS YouTube channel, while live timings and onboard feeds of the cars will be available on their website, meaning you can follow Verstappen’s full journey around the 21 kilometre track.
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Sheona Mountford is a motorsport journalist specialising in F1. As a writer and contributor, she covers a wide range of motorsport series from F1 to F1 Academy, responsible for breaking news, live race coverage and in depth analysis of the sport and the culture around it.
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