Max Verstappen at Portimão: Why He's Racing GT3 and How to Watch

The Portimão race is a 3-hour endurance race and the season finale of the 2026 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup. It's GTWC's first visit to the Algarve in ten years.

Manufacturers like Mercedes-AMG, Ferrari, Porsche, BMW and Lamborghini don't enter as works teams. They race through customer teams such as Team WRT and LionSpeed GP, and 61 cars are entered this weekend.

Max owns Verstappen Racing, which runs the #3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO in GTWC. The car's regular drivers, Dani Juncadella and Jules Gounon, are racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship that same weekend. So Max steps in alongside Chris Lulham and Ben Barnicoat.

GT3 teams can change their driver line-up from one race to the next. That's how an F1 driver can join a GTWC round without racing the full season.

It's Max's first GT3 race since the Nürburgring 24 Hours earlier this year. If you're coming from F1, start with how GT3 compares to Formula 1.

Max is the headline, but the race is worth watching on its own:

• ◆Competition: Ferrari, Porsche, BMW, Mercedes-AMG and other top manufacturers race each other closely. Balance of Performance is what keeps such different cars this evenly matched.
• ◆Endurance: The fastest car doesn't always win. Over three hours, the winner is the team that stays fast, avoids mistakes and gets its pit stops right. Read more on sprint vs endurance racing.
• ◆Spectacle: With 61 cars on track, there is close racing and overtaking all race long. The race starts in daylight and finishes after dark.

• ◆Race: Saturday 17 October, 17:00 to 20:00 local time (16:00 UTC, 21:30 IST)
• ◆Qualifying: Friday 16 October (how GT3 qualifying works)
• ◆Where: Free and live on the GT World YouTube channel, with commentary in several languages. In India, the race starts at 21:30 IST on Saturday evening.

You can set a reminder on the Apex Insights calendar. See our full guide to watching GT3.

If you enjoy the race, there's plenty more to explore. Start with what GT3 is, then read the GTWC beginner's guide or catch up on last round's Barcelona weekend.

For a deeper look at this season, read how amateur drivers compare to the pros.