Max Verstappen has spoken out against the abuse aimed at his teammate Chris Lulham after Saturday’s GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup finale at Portimão.
The British driver was in his stint of the three-hour race and was running well in the top 10 when he tagged Luca Stolz’s #48 Winward Racing Mercedes.
It resulted in a drive-through penalty, costing the #3 Team Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG a chance of victory, having worked its way from 14th on the grid.
With Verstappen in the car for the final stint, the car rallied and finished a creditable ninth after a fine charge from the four-time World Champion.
Having been in 24th place, Verstappen made the final place in the remaining four minutes at the expense of the Ferrari being driven by Formula 1 rival Charles Leclerc’s brother, Arthur.
Lulham’s mistake led to a flurry of online abuse, which led Verstappen to his Instagram account to condemn them.
“I also feel the need to speak up about the hate and harassment Chris has received after the race,” he wrote. “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.”
Ben Barnicoat, who completed the #3’s line-up alongside Verstappen as a stand-in for regular drivers Dani Juncadella and Jules Gounon, also praised his teammates on Instagram. “Amazing effort by Chris Lulham and Max Verstappen in every session and every stint, thanks for being awesome teammates!” he wrote.
Lulham joined GT racing through a sim racing pathway, where Verstappen said that prior to the weekend, the pair had worked together for a long time.
The race was won by Fabian Schiller, Ralf Aron and Maxi Götz in the #17 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG.
Verstappen now heads to Austin for the United States Grand Prix.
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