Will Verstappen race a GT car in Portimao: the Dutchman reacts

During his days off from Formula 1, Verstappen was able to watch how his GT team performed at the Nurburgring. Rumors circulated in the GT paddock that the Dutchman would compete in a GT race later this season at the Portimao circuit, as GPblog also heard. No one confirmed or denied the story. Now, Verstappen did respond to a question on this matter in Italy.

“No,” was the first thing he said when asked about the matter. “There is a conflict with WEC so I lose two of my drivers on the GT side. So the moment we start looking on who will be best to replace them. Luckily the reserve driver they have on the team could step in potentially so we'll see.”

It is unclear who exactly that reserve driver is. In any case, the GT race in Portugal takes place during a weekend between the Singapore and US Grands Prix. So, in theory, Verstappen could participate, but he would be away from home for weeks.

Verstappen was ill at Zandvoort, but he is finally feeling healthy again. The Red Bull driver explained: "I was very ill. You appreciate again once you're fully healed, how good it is to feel like that because the whole weekend in Zandvoort was awful. And even after Zandvoort for a few days, I was still not good, so it was actually really nice to have that week to recover and feel better again because it's been a very long time that I felt like that."