Team Verstappen handed grid drop for collision in Nurburgring qualifying
Max Verstappen and Lucas Auer have been handed a three-place grid penalty for causing a collision in qualifying for Saturday’s four-hour NLS4 race at the Nordschleife.
Auer was at the wheel of the #3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing entry when he collided with the #941 Porsche Cayman GT4 car in qualifying.
Auer’s Red Bull-liveried Mercedes GT3 car encountered the lesser-powered GT4 car at a double-right-hander deep in the forest section of the Nordschleife circuit that’s in excess of 25km.
Auer attempted to pass the Porsche on the inside into the second right-hand turn, but the Porsche closed the door and made contact at the apex of the corner, sending the Porsche into a spin.
Auer recovered, handing the car over to Verstappen, who was unable to best Auer’s time of 8m13.012s.
That was good enough for sixth place on the grid in a stacked GT3 field as drivers and teams - including Verstappen - prepare for the Nurburgring 24 Hours next month.
But they’ve been shunted back three places on the grid by the stewards as Auer was deemed at fault for the incident.
Pole position went the way of the #23 BMW M4 GT3 entry, which has Nordschleife regulars Anzal Zsigo, Moritz Kranz and David Jahn at the wheel. They took pole with an 8m09.488s, three and a half seconds clear of Verstappen's team.
NLS4 grid top 10
1. Zsigo/Kranz/Jahn #23 BMW
2. Heyer/Mo Hartling/Fittje #11 Mercedes
3. Fukuzumi/Gamo/Krohn/Pittard #47 Mercedes
4. Assenheimer/Mueller/Pereira #48 Porsche
5. Engel/Stolz/Schiller #80 Mercedes
6. Engstler/Bortolotti/Niederhauser #84 Lamborghini
7. Haase/Sims/Green #16 Audi
8. Paul/Lefterov/Stalidzane #7 Lamborghini
9. Verstappen/Auer #3 Mercedes
10. Rump/Buennagel#123 Porsche
The 127-strong field will compete over four hours in the first of two races this weekend on Saturday evening - officially NLS4 as it’s part of the Nurburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS). NLS5 will then take place on Sunday.
Significantly, NLS4 will be Verstappen's first proper taste of racing on the Nordschleife at night.
You can watch all of the action live and free on The Race’s YouTube channel, including an onboard camera of Team Verstappen’s entire race!
The schedule
All times local (CEST, GMT+2)
Saturday
5.30-9.30pm Race (NLS4)
Sunday
8.15-9.45am Qualifying
10.40-11.40am Top qualifying
1-5pm Race (NLS5)
