Verstappen's teammate handed key task at 24h Nurburgring

Juncadella will start this afternoon’s 24h Nurburgring at the famous Nordschleife. The Spaniard also drove the #3 Mercedes-AMG in Top Qualifying 3 on Friday, where he secured fourth place. He will now take Verstappen Racing through the busy opening phase of the race.

After the session, he commented yesterday: "It was a very good day, I think, because ideally you want to start in the first five positions for the race, and we are P4. Of course, you always want to be on pole, but P4 is a great starting position for what is a very long race."

Juncadella will start behind the two Red Bull Team ABT Lamborghini cars and alongside the Scherer Sport PHX #16 Audi. That the Spaniard did not fully push for pole position also suggests Mercedes managed the Balance of Performance (BoP) situation well, as the manufacturer has not received an adjustment ahead of the 24-hour race. Watch the 24h Nurburgring live here!

After the conclusion of the one-hour warm-up this morning, the paddock begins to prepare for the biggest event of the weekend. Cars begin entering the starting grid at 12:45 local time (11:45 GMT). The formation lap will then get underway at 14:40 local time. The 24h Nurburgring is set to begin at 15:00 (14:00 GMT).

Speaking to Mercedes after yesterday's session, the Dutchman said: "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."