Max Verstappen's first GT World Challenge Europe start ended with a ninth-place finish and a fifth in the Pro Cup class. But he also was forced to make a necessary public defence of his team-mate Chris Lulham.
The four-time F1 champion squeezed the Portimao Endurance Cup finale between two F1 triple-headers. And while there was plenty of drama during the race, there was unwanted drama following it on social media. Lulham received abuse after a mistake during the race.
Verstappen has followed his GT campaign with a response to this abuse online.
A climb from 24th
Driving the #3 Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the Pro Cup category, Verstappen shared driving duties with team-mates Ben Barnicoat and Lulham. A strong qualifying effort on Friday resulted in a 14th-place start, with a 13th-place start on the Saturday. While plenty would be happy with such a performance, the four-time Formula 1 champion blamed the set-up, saying the car was "sparking a little bit too much for performance".
"Overall, we have had a decent weekend," said Verstappen after the race. "Unfortunately, we made a mistake with the set-up of the car in qualifying, which meant that the car was sparking a little bit too much for performance."
The team changed the car for the race, and it paid off. "So, we didn’t qualify where we should have qualified. We adjusted the set-up for the race and we were a lot more competitive. Ben had a really great first stint, staying out of the carnage at the start and driving us to the front. Chris also started his stint really strong, putting himself in a good position."
An aggressive attempt by Lulham to overtake the #48 Mercedes driven by Luca Stolz saw the cars come together. This resulted in Lulham taking a drive-through penalty, which he completed before Verstappen took over.
"But then, unfortunately, a little bit of an opportunistic move on the other car ahead meant that, of course, we received a deserved drive-through penalty. That meant I had to go from P24 in my stint. But I had fun and the pace of our car was really good. It was very hectic, with a lot of chaos around me to get to the front."
Verstappen then rapidly pushed up into the top 15. Ninth was as high as he could get, but recovering from a penalty-induced hole like that is no small feat.
"But in the end, to finish ninth, recovering from that drive-through, I think was really strong. So overall, although it was not the result that we wanted, a lot has been learned, and it was a positive weekend," he said before heading to Austin to start another triple-header: the US GP, Mexico GP and Brazilian GP.
Verstappen steps in for Lulham
Before leaving Portugal, though, Lulham became a target on social media with fans on the livestream sending unnecessary comments to the driver. This eventually moved to X and Instagram. Lulham was seen on the live feed apologising to Verstappen after the race.
Verstappen posted a statement to Instagram: "Exciting weekend! Was very happy to be racing our GT3 car in Portimão. There were some ups and downs, but as a team we learnt a lot.
"I also feel I need to speak up about the hate and harassment Chris has received after the race. Everyone can have their opinions about what happened on track, but these personal attacks are not okay. Chris had a really strong stint and mistakes can happen.
"There’s no place for this kind of abuse in our sport or anywhere else."