Qualifying 1 for the 2026 24h Nürburgring gave the teams a difficult and unpredictable start to the weekend, as cold conditions, damp patches and a series of incidents stopped the field from finding any real rhythm. The session was repeatedly interrupted by Code 60 phases, while heavy rain and even hail in the closing stages left only a short window for the fastest cars to set meaningful lap times.
When that opportunity finally arrived, Fabian Schiller made the best use of it in the #80 Team Ravenol Mercedes-AMG GT3. He completed the 25.378-kilometre Nürburgring layout in 8:14.957, which proved good enough for the fastest time of the session. Raffaele Marciello followed in second for ROWE Racing, while Max Verstappen gave the crowd an early highlight by taking third in the #3 Winward Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Although the session was officially a qualifying run, it felt more like a difficult practice session for the leading GT3 teams, as the conditions changed constantly and several incidents forced the drivers to back off just when the track began to improve.
Schiller takes the top spot for Mercedes
Schiller timed his run perfectly during one of the few calm phases of the afternoon, finding enough clear track between a Code 60 period and the late change in weather to put the #80 Mercedes at the top of the timing screens. His 8:14.957 gave the car, shared with Maro Engel, Luca Stolz and Maxime Martin, first place in Qualifying 1 and offered Team Ravenol a strong start to the weekend.
Marciello also used the same short spell of better conditions to good effect, placing the #1 ROWE Racing BMW second with a lap that left him 3.112 seconds behind Schiller. The BMW, shared with Augusto Farfus, Kelvin van der Linde and Jordan Pepper, looked competitive despite the disrupted running and confirmed that ROWE would again be one of the teams to watch.
The #3 Winward Mercedes completed the top three thanks to Verstappen’s earlier 8:18.539, which had stood as the benchmark for a long part of the session before the later improvements arrived. Behind him, the #99 ROWE BMW finished fourth, while the #911 Manthey Porsche rounded out the top five.
Verstappen makes his presence felt
Much of the attention before the session had centred on Max Verstappen, and he quickly gave the fans something to talk about once he took the wheel of the #3 Winward Mercedes. In conditions that remained difficult to read, he produced an 8:18.539 that briefly put him well clear at the front and showed how quickly he had settled into the GT3 car on the Nordschleife.
The lap did not decide the starting order for the GT3 elite, as their most important qualifying runs were still to come later in the weekend, but it carried weight because it proved that Verstappen and Winward had already found a solid base. On a circuit where grip changed from corner to corner, and where cold tyres made the opening laps especially tricky, his pace stood out.
After Verstappen completed his run, Daniel Juncadella and Jules Gounon took over the car as Winward continued its programme. The team treated the session mainly as preparation, yet Verstappen’s early time remained one of the main talking points of Qualifying 1.
Feller crash sets the tone at Qualifying 1 of the 2026 24h Nürburgring
The first major interruption came only minutes after the pit lane opened, when Ricardo Feller crashed the #24 Lionspeed GP Porsche between Metzgesfeld and Kallenhard on his opening lap. The incident caused a long Code 60 phase and immediately set the tone for a session in which clean running would be hard to find.
Feller later explained that he had lost the car on a damp patch before sliding onto the wet grass, where he could no longer regain control. Although the Porsche hit the barrier and suffered damage, Feller escaped unharmed, which was the most important outcome.
His crash also showed how treacherous the conditions were, even when parts of the track looked ready for quick laps. The Nordschleife still held several wet sections, and drivers had to judge the level of grip almost corner by corner, which made the first hour especially difficult.
Fire after Cup Porsche collision
The most frightening moment of the session came on the Grand Prix section shortly after the Schumacher-S, where Alexander Hardt had stopped the #900 Black Falcon Cup Porsche after an incident. After getting out of the car, Hardt remained only a short distance from the track, while his stranded Porsche sat in a dangerous position.
Moments later, Janina Schall arrived in the #146 GITI Tires Porsche and hit the stopped car. The impact caused the #900 Porsche to catch fire, creating a dramatic scene beside the circuit, although both drivers escaped without injury.
The stewards later fined Hardt €300 because he had not taken the quickest route to the safety zone after leaving his car. Schall received no penalty, as officials decided that she had no realistic chance to avoid the collision and therefore treated the crash as a racing incident.
The fire and the following recovery work added another long interruption to an already stop-start session, while also underlining how quickly a local incident can become dangerous on a crowded multi-class circuit.
Oil, smoke and more disruption
The problems continued elsewhere on the Nordschleife, as Christopher Mies stopped the #67 HRT Ford at Schwedenkreuz after a technical issue that caused oil to spill onto the circuit. Track workers had to deal with the affected section, and the binding material left behind created another challenge for drivers once the session resumed.
There was also concern in the pit lane when the #7 Konrad Motorsport Lamborghini produced heavy smoke while stationary at the garage. At first, the issue looked serious, but the team managed to send the car back out shortly afterwards, only for it to spin at Turn 1 soon after returning to the track.
Several other cars also had smaller moments during the opening hour, with spins and off-track excursions adding to the sense of unease. The field had to manage traffic, damp patches and slow zones, which meant that teams could gather useful information but rarely had the chance to complete clean and representative laps.
A short chance to attack during Qualifying 1 at the 2026 24h Nürburgring
For much of the first hour, the timing screens gave only a limited picture of the real competitive order, because Code 60 zones repeatedly spoiled laps and forced the drivers to back off. Many teams focused on keeping the cars out of trouble, while others tried to understand how the tyres behaved in the cold and mixed conditions.
Eventually, the track opened up just enough for the leading GT3 cars to attack. Verstappen had already set his strong early time, but Schiller and Marciello later found the best of the conditions and moved to the front during the brief window in which a full push lap was possible.
That opportunity did not last long, as a VW Golf from the SP 3T class stopped before Klostertal after what appeared to be a technical problem, causing another Code 60 phase. Just as the pace began to build, the field lost momentum again, which made the final order as much about timing and track position as outright speed.
Rain and hail close the session down
The weather then took control of the final part of Qualifying 1 at the 2026 24h Nürburgring weekend. Rain started to fall more heavily around Flugplatz and Hatzenbach, while other parts of the circuit remained in different conditions, creating the kind of patchy grip that often defines the Nürburgring.
Soon afterwards, hail was reported near Aremberg, and heavy rain reached the start-finish area before the chequered flag. With the track no longer suitable for improvements, most teams returned to the pits rather than risk damage in conditions that offered little reward.
As a result, Schiller’s lap remained unbeaten to the end, with Marciello second and Verstappen third. The late weather prevented any final challenge at the top and confirmed that the best times had come from the short spell when the track briefly allowed the drivers to push.
Top ten and wider picture
Behind Schiller, Marciello, Verstappen, the #99 ROWE BMW and the #911 Manthey Porsche, the #130 Red Bull Abt Lamborghini finished sixth, followed by the #77 BMW in seventh and the #64 HRT Ford in eighth. The #16 Scherer Audi took ninth, while the #17 Dunlop Porsche completed the top ten.
Several teams received penalties during the session for ignoring Code 60 rules, with most of them taking the form of a 30-second penalty after the first race lap or a stop-and-go penalty. However, none of these penalties affected a major overall victory contender.
For the leading GT3 teams, Qualifying 1 did not settle the battle for the grid, as the decisive Top Qualifying sessions were still to come. Even so, the two hours of running revealed plenty about the early shape of the weekend. Mercedes looked sharp, ROWE Racing showed strong pace, Manthey kept its programme moving, and Verstappen proved that he could be a serious factor on the Nordschleife.
More than anything, the session reminded everyone how unforgiving the Nürburgring can be. The track briefly offered enough grip for slick tyres and fast laps, but it also delivered crashes, oil, rain and hail within the same two-hour window. Qualifying 1 did not decide the 2026 24h Nürburgring grid, but it gave the field a clear warning that the weekend had begun in full Nordschleife fashion.
Top Ten after Qualifying 1 at the 2026 24h Nürburgring (Provisional)
- Maro Engel/Luca Stolz/Fabian Schiller/Maxime Martin – Mercedes-AMG Team Ravenol – Mercedes-AMG GT3
- Augusto Farfus/Raffaele Marciello/Jordan Pepper/Kelvin van der Linde – ROWE Racing – BMW M4 GT3
- Max Verstappen/Lucas Auer/Jules Gounon/Daniel Juncadella – Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing – Mercedes-AMG GT3
- Dan Harper/Max Hesse/Sheldon van der Linde/Dries Vanthoor – ROWE Racing – BMW M4 GT3
- Kevin Estre/Ayhancan Güven/Thomas Preining – Manthey Racing – Porsche 911 GT3 R
- Marco Mapelli/Nick Catsburg/Nick Yelloy – ABT Sportsline – Lamborghini Huracán GT3
- Marco Wittmann/Philipp Eng/Charles Weerts/Robin Frijns – Schubert Motorsport – BMW M4 GT3
- Arjun Maini/Fabio Scherer/David Schumacher/Frank Stippler – Haupt Racing Team – Ford Mustang GT3
- Christopher Haase/Alex Sims/Ben Green – SCHERER SPORT PHX – Audi R8 LMS GT3
- Julien Andlauer/Dorian Boccolacci/Nico Menzel/Alessio Picariello – Dunlop Motorsport – Porsche 911 GT3 R
