Max Verstappen on sharing the track with MotoGP legend and "cool guy" Valentino Rossi in GT3 race
Max Verstappen has spoken about his upcoming GT3 race with MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi.
Four-time Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen is excited to race against MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi in the GT World Challenge Europe later this month.
The Red Bull F1 driver and Rossi will share the track in the GT3 race at Portimao as Verstappen makes his debut in the series, driving a Mercedes-AMG GT3 for his eponymous outfit Team Verstappen Racing.
Rossi, who has won nine motorcade grand prix world titles, will be competing for BMW’s factory-supported WRT team in the same Pro category as Verstappen.
While Verstappen is looking forward to catching up with Rossi off track, he is hoping their paths do not cross on it.
“I hope I get to see him,” Verstappen said of Rossi. “He’s a very cool guy, so I hope to catch up with him.
“I mean it nice, but I do not hope to see him in the race, so that’s normally a good sign. I actually hope to see no one, to be just up front and do a good job. But you never know.
“The grid is super competitive, so I’m just looking forward to the challenge. It’s very different to Formula 1, but I love it. I mean, I had my first taste already this year at the Nordschleife, and Portimão is a very cool track to drive.
“So I’m just going to enjoy it and, of course, as a team, we’ll try to do the best we can to get a good result out of it.”
The event takes place on 16-18 October on the brief gap between two F1 triple-headers, meaning Verstappen will race on seven consecutive weekends.
Following the current Azerbaijan-Malaysia-Singapore F1 block, Verstappen will head to Portimao for the GT3 race, before contesting the USA-Mexico-Brazil triple-header.
After that, there will be just one free weekend before Verstappen tackles the final scheduled F1 triple-header consisting of Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
Uncertainty over how the 2026 F1 season will conclude remains amid the ongoing war in the Middle East.
F1 is still planning to stage the final two races of the campaign in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, however, Imola is being readied to host the season-finale if the events cannot go ahead as scheduled.
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