Verstappen wants to race the 24 Hours of Spa in 2027

Max Verstappen used his first day at Portimão to look further ahead than this weekend. After testing the #3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing car on Thursday, he told organiser SRO that he is trying to fit next year’s 24 Hours of Spa into his schedule. This weekend he makes his GT World Challenge Europe debut in the season finale, sharing the car with Ben Barnicoat and Chris Lulham.

No clash with Formula 1 next year

This year the 24 Hours of Spa clashed with Formula 1, but in 2027 the two do not overlap. Asked whether that means we might see him there, Verstappen said: “I love Spa of course, so I’m trying to make it work.” He added that he wants to arrive well prepared and will do his best to be on the grid. He pointed out that the circuit is close to the Dutch border and that he is half Belgian, and called it one of the biggest endurance races of the year. The 2027 dates are in our GT World Challenge Europe calendar and our overview of 24-hour races in 2027.

A day of getting used to it

Verstappen described Thursday’s test as decent. His references come from the Nürburgring Nordschleife, where he has raced GT3 cars before, so it took him some time to adapt to Portimão. He praised the balance of the Mercedes-AMG GT3, said the team was fine-tuning details, and noted that it is still hot for the time of year. The more laps he does, he said, the better it gets.

An old karting rival and a sim racing team-mate

Both team-mates are familiar faces. Verstappen and Barnicoat raced each other often in karting before their careers went separate ways. Lulham he knows from years of sim racing, and Verstappen said the young driver keeps improving and is proving himself in the GT paddock. Sharing a car is still new for him: apart from his races on the Nordschleife, he has never really done it in his career, and he called the endurance aspect part of what attracts him to GT3.

Here to win, but not for points

His aim for the weekend is to enjoy it, but the competitor in him wants to win, he told SRO. Whatever the result, he cannot score drivers’ points himself: under article 5.3 of the 2026 Sporting Regulations, a driver entered for the first time in the last two Endurance Cup events does not score drivers’ points. How the race and the scoring work is explained in our guide to the Portimão finale and in How GT World Challenge points and titles work.

Our take

The Spa remark is the news here. A first GT3 race in the World Challenge is one thing; committing to a 24-hour race with all the preparation he says he wants is another. If Portimão goes well, it is hard to see him staying away from Spa in 2027.

When to watch

Qualifying is on Friday from 18:55 Dutch time and the three-hour race starts on Saturday at 18:00. SRO streams the whole event live on its GT World YouTube channel.

Will we see Verstappen on the grid at the 24 Hours of Spa next year? Tell us in the comments.

Source: SRO Motorsports Group, Q&A with Max Verstappen (15 October 2026).