The motorsport world was once again reminded of the dark side of social media as Max Verstappen openly condemned the wave of online hate and harassment directed at his teammate Chris Lulham following the dramatic GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup finale at Portimao. The intense controversy unfolded while the British driver was in the middle of his stint during the three-hour endurance race, running strongly inside the top ten before making contact on the track.
Disaster struck the #3 Team Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG when Lulham tagged Luca Stolz's #48 Winward Racing Mercedes during a fierce battle. The incident immediately triggered a costly drive-through penalty, effectively destroying the team's hopes of claiming victory after a stellar recovery drive that saw them climb up from 14th place on the starting grid.
Four-time Formula 1 World Champion Verstappen took over the wheel for the final stint, rallying the car brilliantly to secure a respectable ninth-place finish after a hard-fought charge from deep down the order. In the closing stages, Verstappen even fought his way past the Ferrari driven by Arthur Leclerc, the brother of F1 rival Charles Leclerc, with just four minutes remaining on the clock.
However, Lulham's unfortunate on-track mistake triggered a flurry of toxic online abuse from internet trolls, prompting Verstappen to take to his Instagram account to publicly defend his teammate and denounce the harassers. The Dutch driver made it crystal clear that personal attacks cross a fundamental line in sport.
"I also feel the need to speak up about the hate and harassment Chris has received after the race," Verstappen wrote on his social media. "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."
Further support came from Ben Barnicoat, who completed the #3 driver lineup as a stand-in for regular racers Dani Juncadella and Jules Gounon. Taking to Instagram, Barnicoat praised the collective effort within the garage, stating, "Amazing effort by Chris Lulham and Max Verstappen in every session and every stint, thanks for being awesome teammates!" Meanwhile, the race itself was ultimately won by Fabian Schiller, Ralf Aron, and Maxi Gotz in the #17 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG, as Verstappen now shifts his complete attention toward Austin for the upcoming United States Grand Prix.
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