Dramatic crash triggers stewards’ investigation ahead of Nurburgring 24 Hours
Originally published by PlanetF1
A fiery crash marred the opening minutes of the first qualifying session at the Nürburgring 24 Hours.
The crash was triggered after the #900 Porsche 911 caught fire and stopped on track on the Grand Prix track section of the circuit.
Nürburgring crash triggers investigation
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The first qualifying session at the Nürburgring Nordschleife was just 18 minutes old when the #900 Porsche, driven by Germany’s Alexander Hardt, stopped on track at the Xiaomi Corner, due to a fire breaking out under the machine.
Pulled over at the side of the track, Hardt was standing trackside and waving at drivers to warn them of his stopped car, when the #146 Porsche, driven by Janina Schall, ran straight into the back of his car.
Schall’s car was badly damaged in the collision, resulting in her coming to a halt in the grass a few metres away from Hardt’s car, which was pushed across the track to come to rest on the opposite side.
Once both drivers were clear of their cars they were shown on the television feed deep in conversation, both appear to have emerged unscathed from the accident.
Eight minutes later, race officials confirmed the incident will be investigated.
Hardt standing in the gravel trap, rather than escaping to behind the barriers as was outlined in the Drivers’ Briefing, is likely to be closely looked at.
Porsche 💥 Porsche
Q1 📺 https://t.co/HmPGqAUV4C#IGTC | #24hNBR pic.twitter.com/vp9BJZ2OCj
— Intercontinental GT Challenge (@IntercontGTC) May 14, 2026
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The session marks the first competitive display of the prestigious endurance race this weekend, as well as the first Nürburgring 24 Hours appearance of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who is appearing as part of a four-driver squad for the Winward Team, driving a Mercedes-AMG GT3 machine.
Competing in the top SP9 class, Verstappen has previously raced at the Nürburgring in a series of NLS events in recent months, including a victory in his first GT3 outing.
With Verstappen on track as the first driver from his squad to hit the track this weekend, the rules stipulate that each car must meet a minimum performance threshold in order to progress on into Friday’s more critical Top Qualifying sessions, with a 120 per cent rule in place across each class.
At the time of publishing, Verstappen has set the fastest time in SP9 so far, with an 8:18.539.
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