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Max Verstappen returns to the Nurburgring Nordschleife this weekend, but the two four-hour races on Saturday and Sunday are not quite what their name suggests. The qualifying races for the 24 Hours of the Nurburgring do not directly determine the grid for the main event. What they do determine is something almost as important.
How the Top Q3 System Works
This year the Nurburgring organisers have overhauled the qualifying format for the 24-hour race to make it resemble Formula 1 more closely. The key addition is a Top Q3 session reserved for the fastest cars, and places in that session can be secured in advance through strong performances across the NLS races and this weekend's qualifying races.
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Verstappen Faces Strong Field at the Nurburgring This Weekend
Up to six cars can earn their Top Q3 ticket before the main 24-hour weekend even begins. During the NLS races, tickets were awarded to the fastest driver across all qualifying sessions combined and to the winners of the races, with sector times from different laps combined into theoretical fastest laps rather than actual single lap times.
This weekend, three more tickets are up for grabs. One goes to the car that sets the fastest time in the dedicated top qualifying session on Sunday. The other two go to the cars with the theoretically fastest race laps across the two four-hour races, again calculated by combining the best individual sector times from across the weekend.
Where Verstappen's Team Stands
Verstappen Racing do not currently hold a Top Q3 ticket. They won the NLS2 race earlier in the season but were disqualified afterwards for using one too many tyre sets, which cost them any points or credits they would have earned from that result. This weekend gives them a direct chance to put that right.
If it does not go to plan, it is not the end of the road. Teams can still qualify for Top Q3 during the regular qualifying session at the 24-hour race weekend itself. But earning a ticket this weekend would make the preparation smoother and remove one variable from an already complex event.
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