Verstappen falls short of pole at Nurburgring with penalty threat hanging

Christian Krognes had been at the wheel and walked away unharmed, but the impact caused significant damage to the guardrail. What initially looked like a brief interruption turned into a prolonged stoppage, with the red flag lasting over 30 minutes while repairs were completed.

The delay forced race control to revise the schedule, with the session ultimately extended to 10:50 instead of the originally planned 10:00.

As for the most anticipated car, the Verstappen.com-backed Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, Lucas Auer initially took to the track before handing over to Max Verstappen after around 20 minutes.

Footage that did not air initially later showed Auer attempting a move on the Porsche ahead into a tight corner, making contact and spinning it around.

As for pole, the four-time world champion fell short of the target, hampered by heavy traffic on several runs and ultimately finishing sixth. Pole instead went to Zsigo in the BMW M4 GT3 EVO, who set an 8:09.488.