LIVE | Verstappen’s team climbs through the order as the 24 Hours of Nürburgring goes green

Max Verstappen is set to tick off one of his favourite endurance races from his bucket list today. The four-time world champion takes on the 24 Hours of Nürburgring for the first time in his career, doing so with his own team, Verstappen Racing. The Dutchman is joined by three teammates in the #3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo car: Dani Juncadella, Lucas Auer and Jules Gounon. The Spaniard will start the race for Verstappen Racing after securing fourth place in Top Qualifying 3.

Weather conditions will be far from ideal for the drivers today and tomorrow. According to Weather.com, conditions at the start of the race are expected to be mostly cloudy with track temperatures around 9°C. There is also a 14% chance of rain. According to Weather.com, showers are first forecast to arrive at 19:00 local time, with a 48% chance of rain over the following two hours. A few showers are forecast for the early hours of Sunday morning, between 08:00 and 11:00, with the chance of rain increasing to 33%. The race is then expected to finish under cloudy conditions at the Nordschleife, although there will still be a 20–25% chance of further rain reaching the circuit.

Cars begin entering the starting grid at 12:45 local time (11:45 GMT) this Saturday. 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). Watch the session live here!

On Thursday, Verstappen experienced driving his Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo car at night on the famous circuit. Chatting to Mercedes, the four-time Formula 1 world champion said: "A lot of changing conditions, and for me the first time in the night in probably the worst possible conditions with the rain, the fog coming in. But at least I got a good first idea of what to expect potentially in the race as well, so that was good.

The Dutchman was also satisfied with his performance in Qualifying on Friday. "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."

After Top Qualifying, Juncadella also added: "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."

Following yesterday's session, Verstappen Racing's Mercedes received no Balance of Performance (BoP) adjustments. Lamborghini will start the race 15 kilograms heavier, with its weight increased from 1320 kg to 1335 kg, while the engine restrictor has also been reduced by 0.5 mm. BMW has been given an additional 10 kg, while Porsche receives 5 kg of extra weight. Ford's engine restrictor has also been reduced by 1 mm. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo has remained unchanged since NLS1.