Max Verstappen has spoken out against the online abuse directed at Chris Lulham following the GT World Challenge Europe race at Portimao, where a penalty involving his teammate damaged the team's hopes of victory. The four-time Formula 1 world champion defended Lulham, insisting that mistakes are part of racing and that personal attacks have no place in motorsport.
Verstappen returned to GT3 competition over the weekend at the Portuguese circuit, sharing the Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Lulham and Ben Barnicoat. The team started the three-hour race from 13th on the grid, with Barnicoat climbing to eighth before handing over to Lulham, who continued making progress through the field.
However, the British driver's stint took a costly turn shortly after a Safety Car restart. While attempting to overtake Luca Stolz's #48 Winward Racing Mercedes for fifth place at Turn 8, Lulham made contact with the German driver, sending him into a spin. The stewards subsequently handed the #3 Mercedes a drive-through penalty, severely damaging the team's chances of fighting for victory.
Lulham served the penalty before handing the car over to Verstappen, who began his final 45-minute stint in 24th place. Despite recovering to ninth by the chequered flag, the incident sparked criticism of Lulham, including personal abuse directed at the British driver. Verstappen has now addressed the situation publicly, making it clear that such attacks are unacceptable, regardless of what happened on track.
Photo: SRO/JEP
Verstappen defends Lulham following online abuse
Taking to Instagram after the race, Verstappen initially reflected on the team's performance and the lessons learned during the weekend: "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."
Shortly after, the Red Bull driver then turned his attention to the reaction towards Lulham, expressing his disappointment at the personal attacks his teammate received following the penalty: "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."
Verstappen concluded his message by making his position on the matter unequivocally clear: "There's no place for this kind of abuse in our sport or anywhere else."