These drivers will join Max Verstappen in his 2026 Mercedes switch

Along with the announcement, the team’s drivers for next year were confirmed. Chris Lulham and Daniel Juncadella will drive for the team in the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup in 2026.

They will compete in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup as well, which includes the well-known 24 Hours of Spa event, where Jules Gounon will be the third driver alongside them.

So far, there has been no mention of the 24 Hours of Nurburgring.

Being a successful driver in the sim racing world, Lulham is from the UK who returned to real-world racing in 2024. He first competed with Verstappen.com Racing in 2025, where he won the Gold Cup in the GT World Challenge Europe series.

He also competed alongside Verstappen at two Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS) events, and stood on the top step of the podium with the four-time world champion after their victory in the GT3 class last October.

The Spanish driver won the Formula 3 Euro Series in 2012. In 2013, he was a Formula 1 test driver for Williams, and he held the same role at Force India the following season.

In 2014, he drove in three free practice sessions for the Indian outfit at Silverstone, Monza, and Interlagos.

After competing for several seasons in DTM and while also continuing to compete at various IMSA events, Juncadella completed two full seasons for TF Sport in the LMGT3 category of the World Endurance Championship. Their best result was a victory in Qatar in 2025.

Gounon is an experienced endurance racer, having won the 24 Hours of Spa twice, the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2023 in the GTD Pro category, and recorded various victories in Australia at the Bathurst 12 Hour as well.

He also won the Pro titles in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup in 2022 and 2023.

Over the past two years, he has also raced hypercars for Alpine, completing a full season in 2025. He also stepped onto the podium twice this year at Imola and Spa-Francorchamps.

In the 2025 season, he also competed for Mercedes in DTM, scoring three podiums.

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