Lengthy pit stop means Max Verstappen finishes 38th in Sunday's 24 Hour Qualifier at the Nurburgring.

Ahead of the race there was a minute's silence for Juha Miettinen who perished the previous day, the drivers joined on the grid by members of the Finn's family.

Starting fifth, Verstappen soon took the lead, however a lengthy stop for repairs to his Mercedes at the start of his second stint saw him slip down the order.

"In the second lap of my second stint, I realised something was wrong as the front splitter was broken," said the Dutchman. "It's odd, because I didn't touch anyone, so we'll have to investigate what caused this and find a solution.

"I had fun," he insisted, despite the disappointing result, "and the car felt good, so I'm happy with that.

"I also managed to do my stints, in traffic as well, which was pretty intense," he admitted. "I had fights with other GT3 cars, so it was good preparation for the 24hr race.

"I'm as ready as I can be, the only things I haven't done is drive in the dark."

Verstappen took the lead on Lap 4, but was under intense pressure from Christopher Haase in the Scherer Sport PHX, Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II, the pair often side-by-side, bumper-to-bumper.

Nonetheless, the four-time world champion held on to the lead before pitting after six laps. Haase pitted a lap later, handing over to Alexander Sims.

At the start of his second stint, Verstapepn retook the lead, but after ten laps, when pitting to hand over to teammate Lucas Auer, damage to the front splitter meant the Mercedes was stuck in the pits for almost half an hour.

Haase went on to win the race, ahead of the #84 Red Bull Team ABT Lamborghini Huracan GT3 and the #911 Manthey Racing Porsche 911 GT3.

Pictures copyright Verstappen.com