Max Verstappen suffers brutal qualifying session with Portimao weekend getting off to terrible start

Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing will kick off the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup powered by AWS race tomorrow from P15.

Ben Barnicoat, Chris Lulham, and Max Verstappen posted an average lap time of 1:42.624 - just over half a second shy of the pole position set in Portimao.

Meanwhile, Morris Schuring earned pole alongside Dorian Boccolacci and Alessio Picariello in the Boutsen VDS-Porsche.

The qualifying session at Portimao was divided into three parts, giving each driver in every car a chance behind the wheel.

Barnicoat set the pace in Q1, Lulham followed in Q2, and Verstappen closed out Q3.

Unfortunately, Barnicoat ran wide at turn 15 during his opening push on the straight, which not only spoiled his first stint but also hampered his following efforts. His best attempt in Q1 ended with a time of 1:43.124 from P21.

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Pole for Schuring, but P15 for Verstappen

Lulham clocked the sixteenth fastest time with a 1:42.655, moving the Verstappen Racing car into fifteenth position on the overall leaderboard after Q2.

In Q3, Verstappen managed a best lap of 1:42.093, resulting in an average time of 1:42.624 for the number-3 AMG. As a result, Verstappen, four-time world champion, will start from P15 alongside teammates Barnicoat and Lulham in Portugal.

Verstappen team: Setup changes failed

Verstappen's team-mate Ben Barnicoat admitted that setup changes made to their Mercedes didn't go the way they had hoped.

"It was a tough session", he said.

"We felt like we've been missing a little bit of speed. We were quite high up on the timing sheets, but none of us have been super happy.

"We tried a couple of things, but they didn't quite work out as expected. A lot of sparking, as we all saw on TV, and a lot of bouncing in the straight line, so I think we just missed it a little bit [in terms of the setup]."

"It's never over until it's over in these endurance races. We got a great driver line-up and a great team. I still believe we can get the job done tomorrow.

"Max and Chris are both in strong form, 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 how to make it better. We're winners, all of us, and we have a four-time world champion. We're going to go to business tomorrow and try to get to the front."

Valentino Rossi nightmare

But if Max Verstappen thought he had problems, things were much worse for Valentino Rossi's team, with the MotoGP legend set to start from the very back in P60.

The seven-time world champion ran wide during the second qualifying session, causing his lap time to be deleted.

Having not set another time it, voided the combined qualifying across the three sessions, meaning a long Sunday evening ahead for his BMW M4 carrying the number 46.

WATCH LIVE: Max Verstappen at GT World Challenge Portimao

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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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