NLS: Verstappen and Auer will start fifth on Sunday.

      Lukas Auer, Max Verstappen's teammate at Verstappen Racing, showed the 5th fastest time in today's qualifying final at the Nürburgring's Nordschleife. His result, achieved behind the wheel of a Mercedes-AMG GT3, was three seconds slower than the pole time, which isn't too much considering the lap length on the Nordschleife is nearly 21 kilometers. Of course, during today's 4-hour NLS5 race, Max and Lukas will try to catch up and overtake the four cars starting ahead of them in the GT3 category. Participants in the qualifying session were given two attempts, and since Max believes that his teammate should be given the opportunity to work more on the track, as we quoted him, he preferred to observe everything from his team's pit. After the first attempt, Auer was only 15th, but yellow flags in the third sector of the track hindered him from completing a faster lap. The second attempt was clearly more successful, and Lukas achieved the 5th fastest time. By the way, the pole position went to Thierry Vermeulen, the son of Max's manager, so Verstappen sincerely congratulated the 23-year-old Dutch driver competing in a Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo for the Japanese team Kondo Racing. The NLS5 race starts at 1 PM local time, and in the first stint, the Mercedes in Red Bull colors with the number 3 will be driven by none other than Max Verstappen.