Max Verstappen teammate reveals cause of GT qualifying setback
Verstappen Racing struggled in GT World Challenge Europe qualifying
Ben Barnicoat, teammate to Max Verstappen in Portimão, revealed that the Verstappen Racing squad made some tweaks going into qualifying as all drivers felt speed was slightly lacking. That call backfired.
The #3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 will start from P15 in Sunday’s three-hour race, following a challenging qualifying for the team.
Max Verstappen team decision backfires at Portimão
Verstappen is in action at the 2026 GT World Challenge Europe finale, at a venue which will be returning to the Formula 1 calendar as host of the Portuguese Grand Prix in 2027.
It was a challenging Saturday in the Algarve for Verstappen’s team, the four-time world champion partnered by British pair Chris Lulham and Ben Barnicoat.
Verstappen got behind the wheel for the final, Q3 segment, during which sparks could be seen coming from the underside of the #3 car.
The Dutchman could not improve his team’s P15 grid slot.
The grid is determined by an average of all three drivers per car across qualifying.
With the #3 also looking a handful for all three of its racers, Barnicoat revealed the cause.
Asked if the car bottoming out and sparking affected the pace, the Brit confirmed: “Yeah, definitely. Tough session.
“We felt like we’ve been missing a little bit of speed. We’ve been quite high up the timesheets, but none of us have been super happy.
“So we tried a couple of things there, and obviously it just didn’t quite work out. Yeah, lots of sparking as we all saw on TV. A lot of bouncing in the straight line. So I think we just missed it a little bit.
“But you know, 15th could be worse.
“So, three-hour race, we’re all going to get out there, do our best. It’s never over until it’s over in these endurance races. We’ve got a great line-up, great team. I still believe we can do it tomorrow.”
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A race-winning car this season with multiple podium results, Barnicoat doubled down on his belief in the team going into Sunday.
Quizzed on whether he has confidence in the pace, he confirmed: “Yeah, the team have been up the front the whole time. Fresh off the podium at Nürburgring last time with Dani [Juncadella], Jules [Gounon] and Chris, we know we’re capable of it.
“I think for me, getting used to Mercedes, it’s been a little bit of a struggle. Quite a few differences from my Lexus that I’m used to.
“But Max has been strong, Chris has been strong, so I’m sure we’ll be okay come tomorrow.
“We just got it a little bit wrong then, but we know what we did and we know how to make it better. We’re all winners, we’ve got a four-time world champion. We’re going to go into business tomorrow and try and get to the front.”
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