Follow Max Verstappen's GT3 race as he controls proceedings at the Nordschleife!

The four-time world champion took part in his very first GT3 qualifying session at the famous “Green Hell”, before making his race debut at 12:30 p.m. CET.

In the afternoon, the Dutchman will share driving duties with Chris Lulham, who, like Verstappen, also earned his DMSB Permit Nordschleife two weeks ago, making him eligible to compete in this weekend’s GT3 race.

You can follow both the race in the early afternoon at the top of this article.

The four-time world champion qualified in third place, three seconds behind pole-sitter Krognes in the Aston Martin and one second behind Stippler in the Audi R8.

Verstappen had started the session strongly, holding the fastest time for much of the run with a comfortable lead, only to lose pole in the final moments by a few seconds. Here are the full results.

Earlier this year, the Dutchman had already taken to the track at the Nordschleife with Emil Frey Racing, setting an unofficial lap record.

On Friday, Verstappen returned to the circuit in the Ferrari 296 to fine-tune preparations for the weekend and, according to some sources, once again broke the record, shaving three seconds off his previous time.

As is now well known, Verstappen will compete in the Barbarossapreis this weekend, the ninth round of the NLS, the German endurance championship, after already taking part in the ADAC ACAS Cup two weeks ago.

That weekend, the Dutchman drove a detuned Porsche Cayman GT4 with the goal of securing the A permit—required to race in the GT3 class and, above all, to enter next year’s 24 Hours of Nürburgring, as confirmed by Helmut Marko.

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