With race week for the 2026 Nürburgring 24 Hours, the endurance racing season is officially kicking into high gear, and you can watch the entire race right here as Max Verstappen's own team takes on the best in the GT3 racing community on one of the most daunting tracks in the world. Here are all the links you need to watch the race, plus some vital information.
Each Summer, there are three major 24-hour endurance races that every sportscar racing enthusiast will commit to watching. The Spa 24 Hours, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the one taking place this weekend, kicking it all off: the N24.
Yes, 24-hour season is here as motorsport fans prepare to come back to work on a Monday with baggier eyes than with which they left on Friday. But this year, things are different. This year, with the race joining the Intercontinental GT Challenge, 161 cars taking part, a new headlining team in the form of Verstappen Racing and an overhauled qualifying system, there is new interest in one of the world's toughest races.
So if you plan on joining in the fun this weekend from your couch, here is everything you need to know about the event including when and where you can watch the full Nürburgring 24 Hours.
Largest Grid in 12 Years
No doubt about it, the headline going into this weekend's Nürburgring 24 Hours is the participation of Max Verstappen as part of the four-time Formula One World Champion's new GT racing effort. It is far from a relaxed entry helping build the numbers as the #3 Verstappen Racing Mercedes run by Winward features one of the most impressive driver line-ups on the grid: Dani Juncadella, Jules Gounon and Lucas Auer joining the F1 ace.
161 cars take to the 2026 Nürburgring 24 Hours, the most since 2014. Image: Porsche AG Press
But the Nürburgring 24 Hours is more than just one car. For 2026, the race will see 161 cars take to the track in what is a 12-year high grid for the event. The last time the N24 exceeded 160 entries was 2014 when 175 teams took to the start.
With more cars than ever before in the post-COVID era, many racers will never have seen the Nurburgring this busy. Despite its 25km length with the GP loop attached, the grid's size averages 100 metres of free air per car, so traffic management and optimising that space will be crucial to getting to the end. Certainly, we doubt 161 teams will make it to the very end after 24 hours.
The N24 is even more than just the top class dedicated to GT3 machinery. Outside of that SP9 category lie a long list of groups designed to give each and every car taking part a competitive race. These range from the near-8-minute-lap runners in the SP9 class to the likes of the Dacia Logan in SP3T exceeding the 10-minute mark. We have already covered some of the stranger additions to the grid, but feel free to peruse the official 2026 Nürburgring 24 Hours entry list here.
Watch the Weather
If 161 cars, all with different speeds at different points on the track, tackling a circuit dubbed the Green Hell across day and night is not frantic enough for you, the area surrounding the Nürburgring is known for dramatically varying weather micro-climates. Given its length, sprawling from valley to valley, one can experience all four seasons in a single lap, with sun, rain, snow and hail all falling on the circuit so far in Qualifying.
35% chance of rain announced for the 2026 Nürburgring 24 Hours. Image: Google Weather
With that in mind, checking the weather beforehand would be like making rust patch repair in a 1980s classic just before heading back out onto British roads. There is no point. But we will do it anyway, and the forecast does show that literally any weather could fall during the N24. For starters, the peak temperature across the race duration looks to fall below 12°C. Move into the night, towards the higher points on-track and freezing conditions are not out of the question.
But the more important point to note is the chance of rain. Whilst Sunday's running looks to be mostly un-impacted, there is a 35% chance on Saturday evening. As aforementioned, we have already seen in Qualifying just how chaotic the Nürburgring can get when the rain falls and so this patch of weather may well decide the race's final result.
2026 Nürburgring 24 Hours Live Stream
In the past, the YouTube livestream would have been restricted only to certain territories due to licensing agreements between the organiser and verious broadcasters around the world. But in the last few years, the N24 has formed part of the Intercontinental GT Challenge, a world-hopping tour of some of the greatest GT-based endurance events in the world organised by SRO.
As such, this year's Nürburgring 24 Hours will be fully live and free to watch on YouTube with several channels hosting the event. The main stream to watch - though they will not change in quality or production - is the official N24 page, available with both English and German commentary.
In case you missed them, the same page also hosts replays of all the Qualifying session, including the thrilling Top Qualifying 3, determining the top spots on the grid.
2026 N24 Start Time
According to the official YouTube channel of the Nürburgring 24 Hours, the live stream on Saturday morning kicks off at 10am CEST. However, the time you will absolutely want to be tuned in and attentive is 3pm CEST, when the Safety Car peels into the pitlane and unleashes the 161 cars down towards Turn 1.
CESTUTCESTRace Start3pm1pm9amWill you be watching the Nurburgring 24 Hours and who do you think is going to claim the win on Sunday? Let us know in the comments below and join the discussion in our motorsport forum!
