Max Verstappen stars with 15-place charge in 45 minutes: 'I learned a lot and had fun'
Max Verstappen's first outing in GT World Challenge Europe ended with ninth place in a comeback drive at Portimao on Saturday evening. The #3 Mercedes prepared by 2 Seas and carrying Verstappen Racing branding, which the Dutchman shared with Ben Barnicoat and Chris Lulham, was a factor throughout all three hours of the race. Barnicoat took the start, doing superbly to avoid the chaos at the ...…
Max Verstappen took part in his first GT World Challenge Europe race, driving a Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO prepared by 2 Seas. The Dutch driver started in ninth place and managed to climb to eighth position before handing the car to his teammate Chris Lulham. Lulham made a crucial outside pass on Thomas Drouet's Ford-HRT car, moving up to sixth position.
However, during the safety car restart, Lulham made a mistake during a move on Luca Stolz, causing a collision that resulted in a drive-through penalty and dropping the team to 24th place. Verstappen took over from Lulham and, in the final 45 minutes of the race, demonstrated impressive driving skills. By utilizing opportunities and avoiding chaos, Verstappen managed to regain ninth place, which was a satisfactory result given the circumstances.
The team learned valuable lessons from the race and acknowledged that the car's set-up during qualifying was suboptimal, leading to the penalties. Despite the setbacks, Verstappen expressed satisfaction with the outcome and emphasized the importance of learning from the experience.
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