Max Verstappen's hopes of victory at the GT World Challenge Europe finale in Portimao were dashed before he even got into his Mercedes-AMG. His Verstappen Racing teammate Chris Lulham collided with a fellow Mercedes driver after a Safety Car restart, and had to serve a Drive Through Penalty.

As well as fellow Briton Ben Barnicoat, Lulham displayed impressive pace for Verstappen Racing. With the team lining up in P13 at the start of the race, Lulham had as high as P6 in the second stint - with hopes of at least a podium high upon the first of two Safety Cars with just over an hour to go.

Upon the restart, however, Lulham attempted a move on Luca Stolz, driver for the Mann-Filter Mercedes-AMG team, but clipped the rear of the German's car and sent him spinning. Lulham was given a Drive Through penalty, which he served ten minutes prior to Verstappen's stint - the third and final stint in Portugal.

The Dutchman emerged from the final stop in P24, and with the help of a second Safety Car, managed to regain several places in emphatic fashion for his team, ultimately finishing P9 in the race overall, and P5 in the PRO class.

The four-time F1 world champion scythed through the grid in the Portimao night, even overtaking three cars within two corners, Turns 4 and 5, with just over six minutes to go. Such pace ought to leave fans wondering what might have been had Verstappen’s team not suffered that penalty.

After lap times were deleted in Qualifying, MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi had to start the Portimao race in P59 for Team WRT, and expressed frustration at not being able to fight with Verstappen ahead of the three-hour race.

Speaking to Sky Italia after the Qualifying, the MotoGP legend said: "We’re very, very disappointed because the lap had been good, the weather was good, and it would have allowed us to start very close to Verstappen and very close to the #32, our teammates, so it had been a good qualifying session."

By the time Rossi was notified that his lap time had been deleted, it was too late for the Italian to set another competitive time. He added: "So it’s a shame because we could have fought with Verstappen, as we were right there, and it would have been great. But instead, this is how it’s turned out."

In the race, Rossi's Team WRT finished P50 out of P61, after German driver Max Hesse went into the gravel, completing 75 laps overall.