Lewis Hamilton's dad Anthony pays tribute to "friend" Max Verstappen at GT World Challenge race

Lewis Hamilton's father Anthony was full of praise for his son's former F1 rival Max Verstappen after watching him compete GT World Challenge.

Verstappen made his debut at the GT World Challenge debut in Potimao on Saturday competitng against fellow racing legend Valentino Rossi. The four-time F1 world champion could only take his No.3 team to a very respectable top 10 finish after a difficult qualifying session saw the team start the race in 15th place.

Among those watching was Anthony Hamilton who posed for a picture with Verstappen and Rossi penning a tribute to both drivers.

"Great to catch up with my friends Max and Valentino Rossi, talking all things motorsport, life and family. 35 years in motorsport and my first ever GT World event. What a day! 61 cars on the grid. What a sight, what a sound."

"I rarely take photos, but yesterday I made an exception… three absolute gentlemen."

Hamilton, who is a regular fixture at F1 races, recently announced that he would be launching his own racing series, HybridV10. The independent racing series will reportedly feature high-performance cars running V8 and V10 engines.

HybridV10 will be the headline category, featuring naturally-aspirated hybrid V10 engines, while a hybrid V8 category will run in parallel.

There are plans for 12 teams and 24 drivers to race in each category, opening the door to the opportunity for 48 race seats in total. However, a calendar has not yet been announced, nor have any circuits been confirmed.

Verstappen manages 9th place finish in Portimao

Verstappen was only able to take his No.3 Team Verstappen Mercedes to 9th following a trick qualifying session on Saturday, and a penalty for teammate Chris Lulham.

At the end of the three-hour race, it was the No.17 Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed that took overall victory at Portimao, and victory in the Pro Cup class.

Completing the podium were the No.80 Lionspeed GP Porsche in second place, with the No.2 Boutsen VDS Porsche in third place.

At the end of the opening stint, Ben Barnicoat was able to take the No.3 car to 2nd place on track before he pitted, after starting from 14th place. During his 66-minute run, Barnicoat was able to drag the Mercedes up the order in the opening hour of the three-hour race.

For the start of the second stint, Chris Lulham took over behind the wheel of the Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing machine. The British driver came back out on track in 8th, and towards the end of his stint, he made contact with the No.11 Mercedes and was given a drive-through penalty, which put him down to 16th place.

The final stint of the race was run by Max Verstappen, as he took over the No.3 Mercedes with 45 minutes left on the clock, and came out of the pits in 24th place. After making his way into the top 20, a safety car nullified his progress after the No.46 BMW ended up in the gravel.

When the safety car came in, Verstappen found himself in 19th place and had 23 minutes to try and improve his final position for his debut in GT World Challenge Europe. 

The Dutch driver made steady progress throughout his sprint to the finish after the safety car. However, he was able to fight through the field and take his No.3 Mercedes to 9th place at the chequered flag.