Max Verstappen dips outside top 10 during second Nordschleife qualifying outing

Max Verstappen qualified outside the top 10 during the second qualifying practice session from the Nordschleife, which took place on Sunday morning.

The on-track action resumed one day after the tragic death of Juha Miettinen, who passed away while competing on Saturday during the first race of the weekend.

On behalf of Team Verstappen, Lucas Auer got behind the wheel during the opening phase of qualifying practice. The track was fairly damp after rain overnight, which did not make it easy to record a fast lap. 

Auer initially held 15th place, but improved considerably in his second run. His lap time of 9:12 was good for second position.

Halfway through, Auer handed over the wheel to Verstappen. The 28-year-old Dutchman was immediately 10 seconds faster than the rest of the field on his first lap. 

This was largely due to the improving track conditions and soon after rival teams improved their times - but nevertheless, Verstappen again made a strong impression.

It only lasted one lap, though, as Verstappen came straight in and did not appear on the track again. 

The competition attached slick tyres to their cars to lower the benchmark further, bumping the #3 entry out of the top 10. However, Verstappen will still take part in 'Top Qualifying', which will take place at 10:40 local time.

“This is an important weekend for me, partly to give Lucas a bit of a boost,” Verstappen said. 

“He’s spent the least time in the car out of all of us so far, so it’s important to help him get up to speed within the group. 

“The car is working really well. At the same time, I’m still learning about the set-up myself – we’re still trying out little things to find even more pace.”