Max Verstappen reveals plans for the 2026 season after Mercedes switch

12:02, 28 Dec

byKada Sarkozi

Max Verstappen's GT3 team will use Mercedes-AMG cars in the 2026 season in the GT World Challenge Europe series. The Dutchman shared his plans for the upcoming year.

"It's still only the start. I mean, my plans, of course, are still, I want to go bigger and bigger, but step by step."

- Max Verstappen

The Verstappen.com Racing team won the Gold Cup in the 2025 GT World Challenge Europe season. Verstappen now aims to move up to the highest category, he explained in the Talking Bull podcast.

Moving forward, the team will use Mercedes-AMG cars as well, switching over from Aston Martin.

The Dutchman said: "It's becoming more and more serious. We entered this year not as a Pro class, but in the Gold Cup. One of the drivers (Chris Lulham) that jumped in came from the sim racing world. So for me to immediately put him in the Pro class championship was probably a bit much, I would say.

"But I always said we do compare ourselves with them in terms of lap time. That's the target. Now, we won the Gold Cup championship, which I think was our target starting the year."

Max Verstappen and Chris Lulham on the podium after their Nordschleife victory earlier this year - Photo: GPblog

According to the four-time world champion, the team made progress in optimising stints in qualifying and the race, as well as managing the car’s balance.

Verstappen then added: "It's still only the start. I mean, my plans, of course, are still, I want to go bigger and bigger, but step by step. I don't want to overdo it and then go, you know, track back a bit. So we need to make sure that we build it step by step."

Check out the latest episode of GPblog's F1 Paddock Update below

Want to stay up-to-date with what happens in the F1 paddock? Then GPblog's F1 Paddock Update video is the perfect way to do it. Subscribe to GPblog's YouTube channel and turn on notifications to never miss the latest episodes.