Max Verstappen and his team have qualified for the decisive qualifying session of the 24 Hours of Nürburgring. The Dutchman will compete with his #3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the battle for pole position for the endurance race. But it was a close call: ‘It is incredibly tough, there are many fast cars, but we just managed to get in,’ Verstappen says.
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Max Verstappen’s team finished sixth during Top Qualifying 2 at the Nürburgring. Only the top seven teams advanced to the final top qualifying session – comparable to Q3 in Formula 1 – where the fight for pole position begins.
“I felt comfortable in the car. Our goal was to qualify for Top Qualifying 3,” Verstappen told Motorsport.com after Top Qualifying 2 on Friday. “That’s of course not easy with the competition out there. It is incredibly tough, there are many fast cars, but we just managed to get in. So that last lap was just good enough.”
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For the first time in the dark
“That was nice. Fortunately, it was dry, the car felt fine, and we managed to make it. That was our goal.” Another goal of Verstappen before the 24-hour race was to drive on the Nordschleife in the dark for a bit. He achieved that on Thursday. “Yesterday we had many changing conditions, and for me, this was the first time in the dark, probably also under the worst possible conditions with rain and fog coming in. But at least I got a good first impression of what we might also expect during the race.”
“Honestly, I think we as a team have prepared as well as possible, also during the recent races,” the world champion continues. “And this weekend… it’s really a very professional group of people who put their heart and soul into everything. So we hope for a good result.”
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The battle for pole position kicks off at 13:35.
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