F1 Today: Verstappen misses Nurburgring pole, Russell faces demotion warning

Verstappen and his Verstappen Racing teammates are set to start the 24h Nurburgring from the second row of the grid, after Daniel Juncadella, who participated in the final Top Qualifying 3 session, finished in fourth place. The Spaniard was less than a second away from pole position, which Luca Engstler claimed.

Following Lucas Auer and Verstappen securing progression from Top Qualifying 1 and 2, respectively, for the #3 Mercedes-AMG car, it was Juncadella’s turn at the Nordschleife. The Spaniard was drawn third to start his lap.

After the first attempts, Juncadella was in ninth place, 6.8 seconds behind Marco Mapelli in the Red Bull Team ABT #130 Lamborghini. On his second lap, on a lighter fuel load, Juncadella set purple sectors and moved up to provisional second place, but was eventually pushed down to P4 as the final runners completed their laps. Pole position went to the #84 Red Bull Team ABT Lamborghini with Engstler at the wheel.

Ralf Schumacher has urged Russell to raise his level or risk suffering a similar fate to Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes. According to the German, Antonelli “outclassed” the Briton last time out at the Miami Grand Prix.

The former Williams driver, assessing Russell’s form against championship leader and teammate Antonelli, suggested the Italian has largely outperformed him. Schumacher also pointed to the Miami Grand Prix, where he felt the pair were operating on completely different levels.

Schumacher went on to suggest that Russell’s dip in form could simplify decision-making for team principal Toto Wolff when it comes to team hierarchy. The 50-year-old added that, if the trend continues, Mercedes may increasingly favour Antonelli, potentially leaving Russell in a clear number two role, similar to Bottas during his time alongside Lewis Hamilton at Brackley.