Max Verstappen GT World Challenge: Qualifying schedule and how to watch for FREE

It's Friday and that means track action for Max Verstappen, albeit not in Formula 1 but instead in the GT World Challenge in Portimao.

With F1's latest triple header out of the way, Verstappen is instead trying his hand at GT3 cars again when he takes part in the GT World Challenge finale at , which concludes with this Saturday's race.

Verstappen is only doing this because regular Verstappen Racing drivers Dani Juncadella and Jules Gounon are unable to take part to a rescheduled World Endurace Championship (WEC) race in Barcelona.

So the four-time F1 champion has joined fellow Brits in regular racing Chris Lulham and the team's other reserve driver Ben Barnicoat driving the No. 3 Mercedes-AMG GT3.

But wait, there's more. In addition, Verstappen will also be facing off against MotoGP legend and seven-time world champion Valentino Rossi in the kind of crossover dream you just would never expect to happen, with Rossi of course driving a BMW M4 GT3 with his iconic No. 46.

First though it's qualifying. When is it, how does it work and can you watch it for free on a live stream? Here GPFans will help you on all of those points.

WATCH LIVE: Verstappen GT Challenge race, all you need to know plus free stream

Where can I watch Max Verstappen qualify in the GT World Challenge?

Every single session will be streamed for free and below is an embed where you can watch the qualifying session LIVE

When is Max Verstappen qualifying in the GT World Challenge?

Here are the times from around the world on when Max Verstappen's qualifying session starts ahead of Saturday's three-endurance race.

How does qualifying work in the GT World Challenge?

There are three qualifying session with one different driver from each team taking part in each session.

There are no eliminations and at the end of the three sessions the team's drivers have their qualifying times added up for an overall time. This is to prevent one star driver from just taking pole position and leans more towards endurance racing's emphasis on teams.

In an attempt to reduce traffic, the field will go out in Groups. Group A will feature Silver and Bronze runners and Group B will feature Gold and Pro runners. Verstappen will be in Group B, as will Valentino Rossi.

To look out for Verstappen's team they will be running in Q1 between 6.05pm and run for 10 minutes. There will then be a five-minute break, with the Group B cars going out again between 6.30pm and 6.40pm.

After another five minute break, Group B cars will conclude the session between 6.55pm and 7.05pm.

Watch Max Verstappen and Valentino Rossi in Friday testing

Before qualifying you can catch the morning's free practice sessions. The first one starts at 8.45am local time and you can watch it live below

Has Portimao ever hosted an F1 race?

Portimao has hosted two F1 races as stand ins for the Covid affected campaigns of 2020 and 2021 - both being won by Lewis Hamilton.

However, it will be back on the calendar for the 2027 and 2028 seasons in a two-year agreement.

Portimao is the only Portuguese circuit to host an F1 race since Estoril in 1996.

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Written by

Dan Ripley - Global Editor

I've been a massive F1 fan since the mid 1990s and continue to study the history of the sport long before that. As an experienced motor sport reporter covering F1, MotoGP and the LeMans 24 Hour race, being part of GPFans has allowed me to work with a diverse team with all sorts of different backgrounds in watching the sport and given me a greater appreciation of F1.

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