F1 champion Max Verstappen will take part in the NLS5 round at the ADAC 24h Nurburgring Qualifiers today (Sunday, April 19).

Sunday’s race will go ahead despite the tragic seven-car crash on Saturday which claimed the life of 66-year-old driver Juha Miettinen. That race was subsequently cancelled after a lengthy red flag period.

Verstappen, who was not driving when Saturday’s tragedy occurred, had stunned the GT racing world on his first two appearances at the Nurburgring, securing pole position and the win at both the NLS9 round last year and the NLS2 round in March – although his No.3 Verstappen Racing team were disqualified from the latter event.

The Dutchman returned to the ‘Green Hell’, this time alongside Lucas Auer in the Mercedes-AMG GT3, taking part in the NLS4 round on Saturday.

Now, Verstappen goes again in a jam-packed Sunday schedule, which includes qualifying for the NLS5 race, Top Qualifying for the 24 hour race in May and the four-hour NLS5 race.

Here is how you can watch and what time Verstappen is in action at the Nurburgring.

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NLS5 Schedule and times at the ADAC 24h Nurburgring Qualifiers

The race proper will begin, following a minute’s silence to remember Juha Miettinen, at 13:00 local time (CEST), 12:00 UK time (BST), 07:00 (ET), 06:00 (CT) and 04:00 (PT). The race will last four hours.

Before that we have two qualifying sessions, the first conventional session for NLS5 (07:15-08:45 UK) and then a Top Qualifying session (09:40-10:40 UK).

For more detail on how these sessions work – and how they impact the 24 Hour race next month – check out our full guide.

How to watch Max Verstappen live at the Nurburgring

You can watch all of Verstappen’s GT exploits at the Nurburgring right here on GPFans on Sunday April 19. We have live streams for Qualifying, Top Qualifying and the race proper:

Nurburgring weather forecast for NLS5

A much cooler morning is expected on Sunday, with temperatures starting out at six degrees Celsius and only rising to 10 by the end of both qualifying sessions, with a five per cent chance of rain forecast.

For lights out at 13:00, temperatures remain at 11 degrees Celsius throughout the entire race distance, with the chance of rain rising to 30 per cent by the early evening.

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Reigning F1 world champion Lando Norris has described the new 2026 regulations as ‘frustrating’ after an outing at the Nurburgring this week.

Norris has been largely onside so far with the wholesale regulation changes in F1, while some of his rivals have been less than complimentary in the early stages of the 2026 season.

Max Verstappen is understood to be ‘seriously considering’ quitting the sport partly because of the new rules, which he has constantly berated and suggested that the new cars are ‘not fun’ to drive.

Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, has described the new cars as the ‘best racing’ that he has experienced in his long, illustrious F1 career.

Norris has been driving his 2026 MCL40 this week despite the fact that we are currently amidst a five-week break from the sport due to the cancellations of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix.

He has been taking his 2026 car around the Nurburgring Grand Prix circuit as part of a Pirelli dry-tyre test, with both Mercedes and McLaren present at the former home of the European, German and Eifel Grands Prix.

And following that event, Norris revealed his thoughts on the new 2026 regulations after two months of F1 action in the new cars.

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Norris at odds over F1 2026 cars

“These cars are certainly very different to the cars from last year, and the differences are quite complex,” Norris told McLaren’s official website. “Some of which I enjoy, some of which I’ve found a bit more difficult so far.

“Last year we had loads of downforce, cars that really felt like they were on rails when we got them dialled in and what felt like never-ending speed, however when you lost grip, that was it, you were just losing time at best or heading for the gravel. That could be quite frustrating as it didn’t feel like you could make as much of a difference yourself as a driver, you needed the car underneath you and needed to ensure you stayed within the limits of the car.

“This year the cars are much much lower downforce and much more on the limit. You can catch slides more easily, and the slightly lower grip makes for a very exciting car to drive. As a car, I’m enjoying driving them, they remind me of some of the cars I drove coming up through the junior series, and I say that as a big compliment, you really feel like you can make a difference.

“I’ve said before that it’s not the car I’m struggling with, it’s the bit behind us that I’m not enjoying as much – the power unit regulations. I had a scenario in Japan where the battery deployment triggered, even though I didn’t really want it to, and I had to overtake Lewis as a result.

“That meant I was then a sitting duck on the next straight, where I had actually wanted to use the battery. For me, that’s taking too much control away from the driver, but I know that the FIA and all the stakeholders of the sport are looking into it: there has been good dialogue with the FIA on this topic, so I am confident that something will be done for when we go racing in Miami again.”

Will changes be made to the FIA regulations before the Miami GP?

It’s likely that we will see some changes to regulations ahead of the next race on the calendar, the Miami Grand Prix at the start of May.

The FIA met earlier this month to discuss if any changes needed to be made to the sporting regulations, and they confirmed that it would be one of three meetings to take place ahead of the Miami Grand Prix in May.

F1’s governing body revealed in a statement that it was ‘generally agreed’ that ‘tweaks’ should be made to the new regulations, and they also revealed a deadline for when a decision will be made, April 20.

They’ve suggested that the April 20 meeting will be to go through the proposed options for energy management rule tweaks, agreeing on a consensus for the way in which the season will proceed.

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11 teams on the F1 grid? Rubbish. We want more! We want 12! And, apparently, a former team principal wants that too.

Otmar Szafnauer was in the paddock for some time with Racing Point and Alpine, among others, and is now CEO and managing partner of Van Amersfoort Racing in F2 – with ambitions for more.

The Romanian-American team boss revealed that he and VAR owner Rafael Villagómez Sr. were looking at fighting Cadillac to be the 11th team on the grid, and told GPBlog that they want to take up a place alongside them as Team 12 if the opportunity arises.

The ambitious pair are also looking at the possibility of an IndyCar team, Szafnauer revealed, with Prema potentially on the menu as their well publicised financial issues continue.

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Former F1 boss: We might buy existing team

Szafnauer revealed: “The owner and I were looking at potentially collaborating on a Formula 1 team, which could still happen if there’s something interesting either for sale or the 12th team opens up.

“I developed a relationship with the owner when we were looking at starting the 11th team, but then Cadillac got it. And now, when they open up the possibility of a 12th team, we want to do that too or buy into something.”

“Through all that discussion, he said to me ‘well, look in the meantime, why don’t you come help me at Van Amersfoort’, because he just bought Van Amersfoort a few years ago and expanded it.

“So I said ‘okay, I’ll come and help you with Van Amersfoort. But for me to do that, I don’t want to just be an employee. I’d like to be your partner’.”

It’s unclear whether the appetite currently exists among the 11 teams to add a twelfth to their ranks, with owners typically reluctant to give up a slice of their revenue – with prize money and the like being split an extra way with an added team.

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has also warned that expanding to a 12-team grid would introduce serious logistical issues, with some pit lanes and paddocks already tight on room.

“We have to be cautious,” he said last year. “We’ll only evaluate a bid of great significance because I think we’re already at a point with no more room – logistically we’re at the limit.”

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