LIVE | Watch NLS5 here as Verstappen storms to P1 and on course to win

Winward Racing fielded Auer for Top Qualifying, leaving the four-time F1 world champion on the sidelines in the garage. The Austrian delivered a tidy lap, but it ultimately fell short of what was needed to challenge for pole, which went to Vermeulen in the BMW.

Auer’s opening run left him well off the pace of the front-runners, outside the top 10, as Vermeulen in the Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo26 and Jahn in the BMW M4 GT3 EVO were split by just one thousandth.

However, Verstappen battled back and had a thrilling fight with Audi driver Haase to take the provisional lead in the final few laps of the race.

While Verstappen is fighting for the win in Germany, the WEC drivers are doing the same in the 6 Hours of Imola. To the delight of tens of thousands of Italians, two Ferraris have been leading since the start. The #8 Toyota is third. Mercedes' F1 driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli waved the green flag at the start.

Ferrari have so far dominated the race. James Calado has a four-second lead over his teammate, who is driving about three seconds ahead of the Toyota.

For Daniel Juncadella of Verstappen Racing, his debut is over. He has been in the pit lane with the Genesis for almost half an hour.

At the start of the weekend, Nürburgring stewards took firm action against Porsche driver Oleksandr Kosohov following an incident that occurred yesterday in the first of the two qualifying races.

Kosohov was caught driving through a double yellow flag zone at 201 km/h, in a section where the speed limit was just 60. As a result, the stewards revoked his licence on the spot, excluding him from the remainder of the event, while his team was also handed a 95-second penalty to be served in the race.