Max Verstappen steps in as British driver targeted by ugly fan abuse

Max Verstappen has spoken out after his Verstappen Racing team-mate Chris Lulham was targeted by angry fans following a costly incident at Portimao on Saturday.

23-year-old British star Lulham came under fire after receiving a drive-through penalty during the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup season finale, with some supporters blaming him for the team's ninth-place finish.

Verstappen, however, was far more understanding of the incident and later released a statement condemning the abuse directed at his team-mate.

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Verstappen Racing hit by costly penalty

The race had started promisingly for Verstappen Racing, with Ben Barnicoat completing a strong opening stint before handing over to Lulham.

But Lulham's efforts to recover positions ended in contact with another competitor, resulting in a drive-through penalty. Subsequently that led to a storm of abuse on social media.

Verstappen later described the incident as an "opportunistic overtaking move" and was largely positive about the team's performance. The four-time F1 world champion was particularly pleased with his own stint, during which he climbed from 24th to ninth.

Verstappen issues statement condemning online abuse

Following the race, Verstappen issued a statement on social media condemning the abuse directed towards Lulham.

"I feel I need to speak up about the hate and harassment Chris has received after the race.

"Everyone can have their opinions about what happened on track, but these personal attacks are not okay. Chris had a really strong stint and mistakes can happen.

"There’s no place for this kind of abuse in our sport or anywhere else.

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Written by

Graham Shaw - Consultant Editor

Digital sports leader with 30 years of senior level experience running global brands. Built sportinglife.com to be a behemoth in the UK as well as being in charge of the Planet Sport network of sites including planetf1.com, football365.com, teamtalk.com and planetrugby.com. Then grew goal.com to be the world's biggest soccer website in 18 languages and 37 territories. Was GM of Portals for Perform Group (now DAZN) with overall responsibility for sportingnews.com, spox.de and voetbalzone.nl.

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