Max Verstappen finishes ninth after a spectacular comeback

Max Verstappen has made his debut in the GT World Challenge Europe. At Portimão, the four-time Formula 1 world champion competed in the season finale of the world’s premier GT racing series. Together with Ben Barnicoat and Chris Lulham, the Dutchman contested the race in the Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3.

Barnicoat started the race from 14th on the grid. The Briton managed to work his way up to eighth place before Chris Lulham took over for the hectic middle section of the race. Around an hour before the end of the race, the Briton collided with the WINWARD Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 driven by the confirmed champions Lucas Auer, Maro Engel and Luca Stolz.

Following the incident, the fast Briton was handed a drive-through penalty, which saw him drop well down the order.

Around 45 minutes before the end of the race, the Dutchman climbed into the car to the loud cheers of the numerous fans and put on a truly spectacular show. Starting from 24th on the grid, he made up one place after another and crossed the finish line in ninth place. After crossing the line, Verstappen was seen in the pits with a satisfied smile, which underlined just how much he had enjoyed the race weekend in Portugal.

The GP star went on to assert that the standard in the GT World Challenge is “very high”. “I’ve competed against some of these rivals in the past. Some are a bit older than me, but they’ve achieved a great deal in various categories all over the world. The standard of racing here is very high; everyone knows that, which is probably why there are so many cars on the starting grid. You want to compete here in one of the best championships.”

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Verstappen left open the question of whether he would compete in next year’s Spa 24-hour classic: “It’s my favourite circuit and I’ll try to make it happen. I just need to plan it very carefully and prepare well, should it work out. I’m from Belgium too, so it’s always nice to be there. And of course, it’s also one of the biggest endurance events of the year. I’ll do my best to be there.”