Sports · Motorsport · 4 hrs ago
Verstappen finishes ninth after recovering from penalty in GT debut
Max Verstappen finished ninth in his first GT World Challenge Europe race at Portimao, Portugal, on Saturday.
He shared a Mercedes with Ben Barnicoat and Chris Lulham in the three-hour endurance race.
Barnicoat and Lulham helped the team climb from the middle of the field to sixth place.
A collision involving Lulham brought a drive-through penalty, dropping the car to 24th.
Verstappen took over for the final stint and regained 15 places in 45 minutes to finish ninth.
He said a poor qualifying set-up had hurt the car, but changes made it more competitive for the race.
Verstappen called the recovery a very good result and said the team had learned a lot; no further race plans were given.
Max Verstappen finished ninth in his first GT World Challenge Europe race after a drive-through penalty dropped his team’s car to 24th.
The three-hour race took place at Portimao on Saturday evening.
Verstappen shared the No. 3 Mercedes with Ben Barnicoat and Chris Lulham.
Barnicoat and Lulham brought the car up to sixth before Lulham’s collision with another Mercedes led to the penalty.
Verstappen made up positions during his final 45 minutes on track and said the team learned a lot.
- Who
- Max Verstappen, Ben Barnicoat and Chris Lulham shared the No. 3 Mercedes.
- What
- They finished ninth in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup race after a drive-through penalty.
- When
- Saturday evening; the articles were published on October 18, 2026.
- Where
- Portimao.
- Why
- A collision involving Lulham and another Mercedes led to a drive-through penalty, dropping the car to 24th.
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The team’s set-up left the car too low, compromising its performance and qualifying position.
Barnicoat moved the car from 14th to eighth while avoiding first-corner incidents.
Lulham took the car to sixth before a collision with another Mercedes brought a drive-through penalty and dropped it to 24th.
Verstappen made up positions and brought the car home in ninth.
- Finish
- Ninth
- Starting driver
- Ben Barnicoat
- Team-mates
- Chris Lulham and Max Verstappen
- Penalty drop
- Sixth to 24th
- Verstappen’s final stint
- 45 minutes
4 sources
Max Verstappen stars with 15-place charge in 45 minutes: 'I learned a lot and had fun'
Max Verstappen GT race ruined by penalty as Christian Horner set for public grilling - F1 News Today
Max Verstappen assists in #3 recovery drive in GT Portimao debut
What people are saying
In the end, finishing ninth after recovering from that drive-through, I think, was really a very good result.
So, overall, even if it was not what we wanted, we learned a lot and it was a positive weekend.
Max drove an incredible final stint, gaining 15 positions and bringing us up to 9th place: it was really impressive.