Max Verstappen struggles in GT World Challenge qualifying at Portimao

Max Verstappen was left with work to do at Portimao after setting only the 15th fastest time in his part of qualifying for the GT World Challenge Europe finale, with car issue adding to his struggles.

The Mercedes-AMG GT3 he shared with Ben Barnicoat and Chris Lulham will start 15th, the grid determined by an average of all three drivers across qualifying.

Max Verstappen qualifies 15th for GT World Challenge Europe at Portimao

With 61 cars in the field, the opening minutes of the three-part qualifying session were reserved for Bronze- and Silver-rated drivers, with the remainder of the field heading out in the second half of the 20-minute session.

During practice, track limits had proved an issue with cars given 10 warnings before being handed a lengthy pit lane penalty by race control – headed by ex-F1 race director Niels Wittich.

For Team Verstappen, the qualifying format meant the Mercedes-AMG GT3 did not feature in the first phase of the session, with Ben Barnicoat the first out on track for the squad.

He managed a best of 1:43.124s which left him 21st fastest, some seven-tenths off the 1:42.445s set by Morris Schuring driven Porsche 911 GT3 R.

The split format continued throughout the session, a means of affording drivers an opportunity to find clear track with so many cars.

In addition to the challenge of finding clear track, drivers were increasingly forced to battle the setting sun, with long shadows cast across the pit straight.

The pace improved to a 1:42.353s, set by Tom Kalendar while the combined provisional pole lap belonged to the #30 BMW, with an average lap time of 1:42.969s.

Again, the initial minutes were reserved for Bronze and Silver-rated drivers, with their more highly rated rivals on track for the final 10 minutes of the segment.

Lulham’s first flying lap netted a 1:42.655s, helping lift Team Verstappen to 10th on the averaged grid with a time of 1:42.889s, eight-tenths down on the ultimate combined pace.

A second lap failed to net a better time, leaving the Mercedes just 16th at the end of Q2 and 15th on averaged times as the car was handed to Verstappen.

A deleted lap for Valentino Rossi, at the wheel of a BMW, left the Italian without a time in the segment, dropping the #43 entry to 60th of the 61 entries on the combined timesheets.

Nikita Mazepin sat 41st, 1.379s off the ultimate pace, the Russian having recorded a 1:43.354s that was just 42nd best in the #20 Mercedes.

Verstappen finally made his way out with just 10 minutes remaining in Q3, though the Dutchman was still getting ready as pit lane opened for his segment of the session.

By the time he was strapped in and rolling out of pit lane, there was only eight minutes remaining.

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A 32.081s through the opening sector of his first flying lap, a time around four-tenths faster than most others on track at the time.

He pressed on to a 32.542s through the middle third of the lap, resulting in a 1:42.216s, only 15th fastest.

Sparks from the underside of the car around the final corner suggested an issue with the Mercedes, the F1 champ’s best well off the outright pace of a mid-1:41s lap.

With Verstappen’s lap, the #3 entry had climbed up the combined order, though remained outside the top 10 in the final minutes of the session.

The Dutchman pushed on for a second lap, improving through the first sector and all but matching his middle sector from his opening lap.

By the end of the lap, he was capable of just a 1:42.093s, marginally faster but not enough to make any meaningful improvement as the squad remained just 15th fastest in the final order.

The car appeared to be struggling with ride height, the splitter striking the ground particularly around the final corner but at a number of other places across the undulating lap.

Onboard footage also revealed Verstappen, Lulham, and Barnicoat also battled understeer, snap oversteer, and porpoising, pointing to an underlying setup issue.

Pole went to the #2 Porsche, with an averaged lap of 1:42.071s, more than five-tenths quicker than Team Verstappen’s effort.

Further down, Mazepin’s #20 Mercedes was only 39th fastest with a combined lap of 1:43.214s.

Saturday’s race begins at 17:00 local time, a three-hour race featuring two mandatory stops fro driver changes. Coverage of the race will be streamed live on PlanetF1.com.

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