GT driver banned from Nordschleife after committing serious offence

The Nürburgring Qualifiers weekend came to a swift end for the Mühlner Motorsport driver after a serious offence in the first of the two qualifying races prompted officials to take firm action.

Kosohov was caught passing through a double yellow flag zone at 201 km/h, in an area where the maximum permitted speed was just 60.

As a result, the stewards immediately revoked his licence, ruling him out of the remainder of the weekend, while his team was also handed a 95-second penalty to be served in the race.

"Car #999 failed to respect the double yellow flag signal by travelling at 201 km/h. The decision is a 95 second stop and go time penalty in the next race after the first lap, immediate disqualification of the driver from the event, and a general withdrawal of the DPN licence," was the stewards' explanation.

As the track began to dry, the switch to slick tyres in the final 15 minutes triggered a significant drop in lap times, with the field rapidly closing in. Verstappen, however, began to lose ground as conditions evolved, slipping further down the order with each passing lap.

Choosing not to head back out for a final push lap on slicks, he ultimately dropped out of the top 10 and finished down in 27th place. Pole position instead went to Krognes in the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3, with a benchmark time of 8:18.515.