Verstappen takes on the 24h Nurburgring: here's the full schedule

Verstappen will soon be able to tick off one item on his bucket list. This week, the Dutchman is set to take on the 24 Hours of Nürburgring at the circuit nicknamed the 'Green Hell' with Verstappen Racing. Alongside Verstappen, Daniel Juncadella, Jules Gounon and Lucas Auer will share driving duties in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.

Racing begins on Thursday, 14 May, with Qualifying 1 taking place in the early afternoon before Qualifying 2 follows in the evening. Friday's action begins at 8:50 local time with the opening Top Qualifying sessions, followed by Qualifying 3. Top Qualifying 3, which will decide the leading grid positions, then starts at 13:35 local time.

On Saturday, Verstappen's team will first hit the track at 10:00 local time for the warm-up session. The formation lap is scheduled for 14:40 local time, before the 2026 24h Nurburgring gets underway at 15:00.

After Auer took care of Top Qualifying 1, Max Verstappen sat in the car for Top Qualifying 2. The Dutchman completed his task by finishing sixth and securing one of the seven available spots in the final session of the day. After the session, he said to Mercedes: "Yeah, I mean, I felt comfortable in the car. Of course, we were targeting to get to Top Qualifying 3, which of course is not easy with the competition out there. It's super tough. You know, a lot of fast cars around, but yeah, we just managed to sneak in. So yeah, the final lap was just good enough. It was nice. I mean, luckily it was dry. The car felt all right, and we managed to sneak in, so that was the target."

Juncadella was then in action for Verstappen Racing in Top Qualifying 3. The Spaniard secured fourth place, finishing less than a second behind pole-sitter Luca Engstler in the #84 Red Bull Team ABT Lamborghini, meaning he will start from the second row of the grid.

Nürburgring 24h race director Walter Hornung has urged fans to cooperate ahead of a packed race weekend, with huge crowds expected following Verstappen’s first appearance at the event. Tickets have been limited due to the overwhelming demand.

The event will already get underway on Thursday, with the opening qualifying sessions scheduled from 13:15 to 15:15 local time and from 20:00 to 23:30, before building towards the main moment of the weekend at 15:00 on Saturday, when the cars will cross the line for the first time and officially begin the 24-hour countdown.