Driver in Max Verstappen Nurburgring 24h race stripped of licence after serious incident

One of Max Verstappen's competitors has been stripped of his licence by the stewards following an incident during the 24 Hours of Nurburgring weekend.

The second stage of the event, which takes place at the infamous Nurburgring Nordschleife circuit, got underway at 1pm on Sunday afternoon.

The first qualifying race on Saturday was marred by a multi-car collision during the opening four-hour race, with veteran driver Juha Miettinen, 66, confirmed to have died in the crash.

Six other drivers were taking to hospital for precautionary examinations, with race control stating that they had not suffered life-threatening injuries.

The qualifying race was cancelled and did not restart, while a minute's silence was held in honour of Miettinen shortly before the race got underway.

As well as the crash, there was another serious, separate incident involving a rule breach committed by #999 Porsche driver Oleksandr Kosohov.

Kosohov, who was not involved in the multi-car crash, was caught travelling at 201km/h during a double yellow flag zone during the qualifying session.

Oleksandr Kosohov (not pictured) has been disqualified from the Nurburgring 24h (Image: Getty)

Drivers must decelerate to a maximum speed of 120km/h during double yellow flag conditions at the Nordschleife.

He was also recorded at a speed of 192km/h during a Code 60 regulation (maximum speed limit 60km/h).

The stewards have come down strongly on Kosohov over the severe rule breaches, disqualifying him from the second race ahead of the 24 Hours of Nurburgring and withdrawing his Deutscher Motor Sport Bund (DMSB, or DPN) Nordschleife licence.

Holding the licence is mandatory in order to race at the Nurburgring Nordschleife, meaning Kosohov is banned from ever competing at the circuit until he gets his licence back.

Along those sanctions, the #999 car received a 95-second stop-and-go time penalty to be served after the first lap of the 24-hour race.

A statement from the race stewards reads: "Car #999 failed to respect the double yellow flag signal by travelling at 201km/h.

"The decision is a 95-second stop-and-go time penalty in the next race after the first lap, immediate disqualification of the driver from the event, and a general withdrawal of the DPN licence."

The full 24 Hours of Nurburgring race takes place between May 16-17.