Here's the thing about Max Verstappen: put him in any machine, and drama is guaranteed to follow. As The Race reports, his return to GT racing during the Formula 1 break brought massive crowds both online and at the track to the Portimao GT World Challenge event. But things did not start easy for the Verstappen team's 2 Seas Motorsport-run Mercedes.
Friday evening's qualifying session was a struggle, with a set-up miscue leaving the car scraping the tarmac in a shower of sparks down in 15th on the grid. Thankfully, team-mates Ben Barnicoat and Chris Lulham put in serious work during the opening two stints. Barnicoat quickly forced his way into the top 10, and Lulham kept the momentum rolling by charging toward the top five once he took the wheel.
Unfortunately, disaster struck on a restart lap following a safety car when Lulham tried to take fifth. He made contact with Luca Stolz's Mercedes, sending it into a spin, and the stewards immediately handed down a drivethrough penalty. Lulham had to serve that exact penalty right before handing the car over to Verstappen, dropping the machine down to 24th place with a mere 45 minutes of after-dark racing remaining.
Another long safety car period chewed up valuable racing laps, though it did at least bunch the field back together. When the race finally went green again, there were only 23 minutes left on the clock and Verstappen found himself sitting 19th.
What followed was a stunning, beautiful charge forward. Verstappen sliced through the field, treating the grandstands to a particularly entertaining battle with Charles Leclerc's brother Arthur in an AF Corse Ferrari. He fought his way all the way up to ninth, salvaging a top-10 finish from a race that could easily have gone completely wrong.
That fighting drive earned a massive grin from Verstappen back in the pits and a huge roar from the main grandstand. Up at the very front of the field, the GetSpeed Mercedes of Ralf Aron, Fabian Schiller and Maxi Gotz ultimately claimed victory.
