Ben Barnicoat admits he will need to step up his own performance level to match team-mates Max Verstappen and Chris Lulham during this weekend's GT World Challenge Europe season finale in Portimao.
The Lexus IMSA factory driver was called up to join the #3 Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 line-up at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, reuniting with Verstappen for the first time since their international karting days.
Despite not driving the Mercedes-AMG GT3 since the 2026 Nurburgring 24 Hours, Verstappen immediately produced impressive pace during Thursday's opening test sessions, according to Barnicoat.
"Honestly, it's just like being a normal GT team-mate. He's so down to earth, so onboard, but extremely talented," Barnicoat said about working alongside the four-time Formula 1 world champion.
"He's not driven the car since he did the Nurburgring 24 Hours, and literally on his first lap yesterday, you're already like, 'Wow, okay'. It doesn't take him much time to get up to speed with things.
"Same for Chris, he's had an amazing season and he's going really well out there so far. So yeah, I'm going to have to up my game, I think, to keep up with those two."
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"He's been pretty happy with it," Barnicoat explained regarding Verstappen's feedback. "We definitely need to make it a little bit better. I think so far the consensus has been we've got a quite fast car, but it's not the easiest to drive."
Several Mercedes-AMG GT3 cars, including the Verstappen Racing entry, were spotted with trouble in the final right-hand sweeper, bouncing heavily on a bump in the middle of the corner.
"When you've got to do an hour-long stint, if it's not easy, it catches up with you. So that was the idea behind doing a long run, just to try and make things a little easier and get us as well-prepared as we can be for tomorrow, especially at night," Barnicoat said.
He is also not concerned about only managing the 20th-fastest lap time in FP1: "This morning was a bit cooler, probably the most representative of what it's going to be when it gets dark, so we just wanted to get a good feel for where we're at then."
For Barnicoat, the outing marks a return to Mercedes-AMG GT3 machinery, having last driven the car in early 2025 in the Asian Le Mans Series. While transitioning back to the Mercedes requires minor adjustments compared to his usual Lexus, the British driver feels comfortable in the team set-up.
"It's not a new car for me, I've raced a Mercedes a few times, but obviously I'm used to racing in the Lexus, so it's a bit of a familiarization, adjusting myself to it," he said.
"It's a bit of a different car, but it's been going pretty well. Obviously, we've got some really fast team-mates, which has been good, and they've been doing a great job. So far, so good."