Verstappen Mercedes GT3 Test: Estoril Explained

The fact that it is striking has to do with the choice for the Mercedes. With his Verstappen.com Racing, Max Verstappen had one entry this year in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance, in which his team participated with the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo. Thierry Vermeulen and Chris Lulham shared this car in the endurance races with Harry King, while Vermeulen and Lulham – who both compete under the banner of Verstappen.com Racing – also drove in the GTWCE Sprint, albeit on behalf of Emil Frey Racing in the Ferrari 296 GT3.

Verstappen.com Racing’s entry in GTWCE Endurance was in collaboration with 2 Seas Motorsport, which had its own entry in the championship with a Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo. More than a week after the last Formula 1 race of the 2025 season, Max Verstappen was spotted on the wet Estoril circuit with a Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo – and for a clear reason. Reportedly, Verstappen.com Racing will race this Mercedes GT3 car in the GTWCE Endurance in 2026, so the Aston Martin will be pushed aside after a year.

The question remains what the driver line-ups of the two teams that fall under 2 Seas Motorsport will look like. Verstappen.com Racing’s entry was part of the Gold Cup due to the driver line-up consisting of Vermeulen (gold), Lulham (silver) and King (gold), but its own Mercedes entry fell under the Bronze category. Drivers are placed into different FIA categories based on their performance and experience, with bronze being the lowest and platinum the highest. The better the line-up, the higher the team is ranked.

Mercedes factory driver Jules Gounon was also present at the GT3 test at Estoril. With his platinum license, the entry would fall directly under the Pro category, while Lulham – whose license will go from silver to gold in 2026 – and Daniel Juncadella, who will step up to the World Endurance Championship in 2026 as a Hypercar driver for newcomer Genesis, are seen as possible teammates. Juncadella is an acquaintance of Verstappen: the Spanish driver drove several virtual races on behalf of his sim racing team, Team Redline.

Another team for Nürburgring programme?

But why does Verstappen.com Racing suddenly choose Mercedes-AMG? And what does that have to do with Verstappen’s plans for the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring? An argument in favor of Mercedes-AMG is that Lulham prefers the GT3 car, developed by HWA, to the Ferrari 296 GT3 of the Emil Frey team with which he and Verstappen achieved their Nürburgring Langstrecken-Series victory on the Nordschleife in September. The Mercedes is also considered to be the most forgiving GT3 car – no unnecessary luxury on perhaps the most difficult circuit in the world.

But would the 2 Seas team also take on Verstappen’s Nürburgring programme, instead of the Swiss Emil Frey team? That doesn’t seem to be the plan, and that makes sense: 2 Seas, based in Silverstone, has no experience whatsoever on the 25.378 kilometer long Nordschleife. Instead it has Motorsport-Total.com, a sister publication of Motorsport.comheard from several sources that the German-American Winward Racing is Verstappen’s preferred option. The team from Altendiez, near Frankfurt, also has no Nordschleife experience, but is one of the most established Mercedes-AMG teams thanks to its DTM participation – and is expected to make its debut in the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring in 2026. Winward could rely heavily on the extensive Nordschleife experience of Mercedes-AMG, while neither Emil Frey nor Ferrari are real specialists in the Eifel.

Verstappen made his GT3 debut on the Nordschleife this year – and immediately won together with Lulham.

Photo by: Jan Brucke/VLN

Max Verstappen was also recently spotted in a meeting with AMG executives. It is unknown whether this was about the GTWCE project with Verstappen.com Racing or about the possible Winward participation in the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring. But what is certain is that the Mercedes-AMG GT3 has been discussed – the car that 2 Seas is using for the Verstappen project – and that Gounon is the reference driver during tests such as in Portugal, so that the four-time F1 world champion can quickly develop in the front-engine GT3.

Shift races for Verstappen?

But will Max Verstappen actually participate in the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring in 2026? The 28-year-old Dutchman said during the F1 weekend in Singapore that this “depends on many things”. He mentioned the new F1 regulations, which make everything “a little more hectic” than at the end of a regulations cycle. “There’s also the GT3 program – which vehicle we’ll run next year and things like that. Of course we want to return. I just don’t know how many races I can do yet. But if the opportunity is there and it feels good – plus depending on what happens in Formula 1 – then certainly.”

And that seems to be the crux: Verstappen reportedly only wants to participate if he can prepare properly. So far he has raced on the Nordschleife three times: the test in May under the pseudonym ‘Franz Hermann’, the NLS weekend at the end of September – both in Emil Frey Racing’s Ferrari – and his GT4 participation to obtain his permit to race in faster cars on the Groene Hel.

However, he still has zero Nordschleife experience in the Mercedes-AMG GT3. And the Nürburgring calendar makes it challenging: although the date of the 24 hour race (May 14–17) does not clash with Formula 1, all three NLS preparatory races and the 24h Qualifiers do overlap with F1 weekends. ADAC Nordrhein, which is responsible for organizing the qualifying weekend and the 24-hour race, has ruled out a postponement of the qualifying event, despite alleged attempts from Verstappen’s camp. This means that Verstappen’s hopes would be limited to the three NLS events.

Max Verstappen has indicated that he wants to participate in the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring.

Photo by: Max Verstappen

Motorsport-Total.com learned from a reliable source that Verstappen would only participate in the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring if he can drive at least NLS1 – on March 14, the first of a total of eight NLS races – which coincides with the second F1 race weekend in Shanghai. Interestingly enough, an NLS spokesperson was adamant two weeks ago that there would be no date changes, but this now seems to be relaxing somewhat. NLS boss Mike Jäger does not rule out adjustments. Not because of Verstappen, he says, but because of the enormous burden on teams: five important races in 37 days. “It is not ideal that 50 percent of the championship races take place before the 24-hour race – but due to the circumstances it cannot be otherwise. If there is something to change, we are happy to do so. But that still needs to be investigated,” said Jäger.

Did a request come from Verstappen’s environment? “Not to the NLS,” says Jäger, but he does not rule out that there was contact through intermediaries. In any case, Verstappen showed during his last NLS performance that he was interested in more participations. Jäger would like to see him in action again. “We would like to see him back in our championship. I appreciate his down-to-earth appearance and I think that he and his entire entourage have a positive effect on our championship. But we have little influence on that.”

Now it remains to be seen whether the NLS calendar for 2026 will be revised – possibly even in consultation with Formula 1. If that happens, a Verstappen start in the Mercedes-AMG at the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring would actually become realistic.

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– The Motorsport.com team