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Max Verstappen's team came tantalisingly close to pole position for the 2026 NĂŒrburgring 24 Hours, only to be denied by a dominant Lamborghini performance in a dramatic Top Qualifying shootout.
After Lucas Auer and Max Verstappen had done their work to advance the #3 Mercedes GT3 entry through Top Qualifying 1 and 2 respectively, it fell to Dani Juncadella to deliver the decisive pole position lap. The Spaniard had two attempts to seal a famous result â but the first proved costly.
Juncadella's opening effort produced a time of 8m 18s, leaving him stranded ninth on the timesheets and almost seven seconds adrift of Marco Mapelli in the #130 Lamborghini. With the pressure mounting, everything hinged on a final flying lap.
He responded emphatically. Juncadella found significant time on his second attempt, producing a major improvement that briefly raised hopes of a pole position. In the end, however, it was not quite enough.
The Lamborghinis proved simply too strong on the night. The #84 Lamborghini claimed pole position, with the #7 Lamborghini locking out second. The #16 Audi completed the top three, leaving Verstappen's #3 Mercedes outfit to settle for fourth place â just eight tenths of a second adrift of pole.
It was a creditable result for a team that had already shown strong pace throughout qualifying. As we had reported earlier, the #3 Mercedes had faced a challenging opening to the NĂŒrburgring qualifying process, with Verstappen finishing third in Q1 before the team built momentum into the Top Qualifying stages.
The eight-tenths deficit to pole is narrow enough to keep the #3 Mercedes entry firmly in contention when the 24-hour race gets underway â but Lamborghini's commanding display across the top qualifying session underlines the challenge that lies ahead.
Heâs a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.