Max Verstappen’s side hustle in GT racing has outgrown the “hobby” label.
After lifting the 2025 GT World Challenge Europe Gold Cup title, Verstappen.com Racing will step up to the top Pro class next season — and it’s not just a class change. The team will switch from Ferrari to Mercedes-AMG machinery under a multi-year deal, a move that turns heads given Verstappen’s day job at Red Bull Racing in Formula 1.
“It’s becoming more and more serious,” Verstappen said on Red Bull’s Talking Bull podcast, summing up a year in which his outfit not only won a championship but also mapped out a sharper, more ambitious future.
Verstappen dipped into GT3 himself between Grands Prix in 2025, logging the miles he needed around the Nürburgring to earn his coveted ‘Ring licence.’ But the backbone of the project has been the full-season crew — and they’re getting an upgrade for 2026. Chris Lulham, the sim-racing graduate who’s been a quiet success story of the program, will partner Daniel Juncadella for the GTWC Europe Sprint Cup. For the longer stuff, including the 24 Hours of Spa, they’ll be joined by endurance ace Jules Gounon.
The Mercedes switch is a statement. It aligns Verstappen’s privateer squad with one of GT racing’s most battle-hardened platforms and a factory ecosystem built around customer racing success. It’s also slightly cheeky optics, in the best way. F1 brand ties don’t always translate to GT paddocks, and drivers typically go where the package and support are strongest. Verstappen clearly thinks he’s found that with AMG.
This all came after a deliberate first full campaign in the Gold Cup, one rung below the all-pro tier. The logic, Verstappen explained, was to manage expectations while accelerating the growth curve — especially with Lulham stepping in from the virtual world.
“We entered this year not as a Pro car, but in the Gold Cup,” he said. “One of the drivers that jumped in came from the sim racing world, so to immediately put him in the Pro car championship was probably a bit much. But we always compared ourselves with them in terms of lap time — that was the target.”
They hit those targets often enough to win the title, and, more importantly, laid down the kind of consistency that wins you endurance races and championships alike. “Throughout the year, the drivers made some nice steps forward,” Verstappen added. “Understanding how to overcome difficulties with the car balance, how to go faster, and optimising qualifying and race stints.”
Next comes the hard part: living in the deep end. The Pro ranks are ruthless, with factory-backed lineups stacked across the grid and precious little margin for a learning day. Verstappen knows it. He sounds like he wants it. “Next year, we want to be in the Pro championship. We’re changing cars, but it’s getting bigger and better.”
Beyond the team’s progress, Verstappen’s personal racing bucket list continues to loom large. Time — and the small matter of a Formula 1 season — willing, he’d like a crack at the big three: Spa 24, Nürburgring 24, and Le Mans. It’s the sort of crossover ambition you’d expect from someone as restless in a race car as he is relentless on Sundays. The four-time F1 World Champion has never hidden his love for multi-class and endurance challenges, and 2025’s Nürburgring outings felt like an opening chapter rather than a one-off.
In the very immediate term, though, the F1 calendar calls. Verstappen will front Red Bull’s RB22 launch at Ford’s season event in Detroit on January 15, with the rebranded Racing Bulls also set to show off new colours. Once the curtain lifts on 2025, the balancing act begins again: title defense in Formula 1 on one side, a sharpened GT program on the other.
There’s a neat symmetry to it. Verstappen’s F1 strengths — precision, pace management, and a relentless appetite for marginal gains — are the same traits that decide GT weekends. He’s building a team in that image, surrounding young promise with proven heads and now arming them with a car capable of winning the biggest races in the series.
A year ago, Verstappen’s GT3 effort looked like a well-funded passion project. Today, it looks like a plan. And in 2026, the rest of the Pro grid will have to treat it like a threat.
