Max Verstappen finishes ninth on GT World Challenge Europe debut at Portimão

Max Verstappen finished ninth overall on his GT World Challenge Europe debut at Portimão on Saturday, 17 October, sharing the No. 3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing car with Ben Barnicoat and Chris Lulham. Verstappen took over for the closing stint after a drive-through penalty had disrupted the team's race, then moved through the field to bring the car into the top 10 in the three-hour season finale.

How the No. 3 Mercedes recovered at Portimão

MotorBiscuit reported that Barnicoat started the race and made early progress into the top 10. Lulham took over from eighth and was fighting among the leading five cars before an incident while passing Luca Stolz in the No. 48 Mercedes. Lulham received and served a drive-through penalty before handing the car to Verstappen, according to the report.

Crash.net's results placed the Verstappen Racing Mercedes behind the eighth-place No. 6 GetSpeed Team Bartone Bros Mercedes and ahead of the tenth-place No. 50 AF Corse Ferrari. The overall winner was another Mercedes, the No. 17 Team GetSpeed car driven by Maximilian Götz, Ralf Aron and Fabian Schiller. The No. 80 Lionspeed GP Porsche finished second, followed by the No. 2 Boutsen VDS Porsche in third.

Verstappen's first GT World Challenge Europe start

MotorBiscuit said the four-time Formula 1 world champion had previously raced in the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie on the Nordschleife. At Portimão he joined Barnicoat and Lulham in the lead category, sharing a GT3 car rather than racing alone throughout the event.

GPFans reported before the race that Friday qualifying had initially placed the No. 3 crew 15th, before a penalty for another team changed the provisional grid. Barnicoat, Lulham and Verstappen each took a stint in the three-hour race, with Verstappen driving the final 45 minutes, according to MotorBiscuit.