Verstappen confirms participation in the GT race at Portimao

Verstappen Racing will compete in the final GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup race of the season at Portimao. The three-hour event will start at 5pm local time on Saturday, having been moved forward from Sunday due to a clash with the WEC weekend in Barcelona.

Verstappen Racing will be in action on Saturday, October 17, during the concluding race of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup. The three-hour race starts at 5:00 p.m. local time. The event was previously moved from Sunday to Saturday due to overlap with the WEC weekend in Barcelona.

Organisers hoped the schedule change would allow drivers competing in both championships to take part in each event.

The overlap created a problem for Verstappen Racing, as Jules Gounon and Dani Juncadella both have WEC commitments that weekend. GPblog previously reported that the pair had indicated internally that they would prioritise the race in Barcelona, though efforts were being made to see whether both events could be combined. Chris Lulham was the only regular driver without a calendar clash.

In Malaysia, Verstappen has now put an end to the uncertainty about his participation. When asked by GPblog whether Verstappen Racing will race at Portimao and whether he himself will be part of the lineup, he replied: “I know that two of my drivers will not be part of the lineup, so yes, two other drivers need to step in. I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be seven busy weeks, but we’re going to do it. I enjoy it anyway, so we’ll see what we can achieve there.” When asked as a follow-up whether he would be driving himself, Verstappen confirmed: “Yes.”

It remains unclear who will take the final seat alongside Verstappen and Lulham in the Mercedes-AMG GT3. Alex Palou has previously been linked with a possible place in the line-up, with his planned participation in the Indy 8 Hour in October adding to that speculation. Fernando Alonso, however, will not be joining Verstappen’s team. The Aston Martin driver had previously commented on Verstappen’s GT racing activities and hinted at possible surprises in the coming weeks, prompting GPblog to ask the Dutchman whether Alonso could be involved.

“No, no, he’s not driving with me,” says Verstappen. “So I don’t know what he meant by that, but from my side everything is clear. We know what we want to do. Of course, I would have liked my regular drivers to race, but the calendar has sometimes changed and that’s fine. I love Portimao, I love being in Portugal, so we’re going to try to make it a good weekend.”

Verstappen first discussed the calendar conflict at Monza in early September. At the time, he said two drivers would likely need replacing because of the WEC clash and mentioned the possibility of using a reserve driver, without confirming that he would take part himself. Mercedes-AMG also did not want to say then whether Verstappen, Gounon, and Juncadella would race at Portimao.