Max Verstappen admitted that the drive-through penalty which derailed his team’s victory hopes was “deserved”.

The four-time world champion took the recovery mission in his stride with an impressive final stint, though the #3 car was forced to settle for ninth at the end of the three-hour race.

Max Verstappen admits team ‘deserved’ penalty

From 15th on the grid at the GT World Challenge Europe season finale in Portimao, Ben Barnicoat had elevated the #3 Mercedes up to seventh at the end of his stint, handing over to Chris Lulham for the next phase.

His fellow Brit continued the ascent, until an aggressive move down the inside at Turn 8 resulted in contact with a fellow Mercedes, driven by Luca Stolz, who was sent spinning.

The stewards dished out a drive-through penalty for that incident, effectively ending the team’s victory hopes. Lulham served it shortly before handing over to Verstappen.

The Dutchman strapped himself in with 45 minutes left on the clock. He joined the track with his team now 24th, storming his way to a P9 finish.

Verstappen headed for the Algarve in the break between Formula 1 triple-headers. Fresh off claiming his first win of F1 2026, and a maiden Red Bull Powertrains-Ford victory, in Malaysia, he did the double with Singapore Sprint and Grand Prix P1s.

The 29-year-old had fun at Portimao, but acknowledged a qualifying setup wrong turn – which left the Mercedes sparking away – and that drive-through penalty as unfortunate setbacks.

Verstappen made his return to GT racing, following the Nürburgring 24 Hours heartbreak where victory for his team went up in smoke due to a technical issue on the #3 machine.

“Overall, we have had a decent weekend,” Verstappen told his own website.

“Unfortunately, we made a mistake with the setup of the car in qualifying, which meant that the car was sparking a little bit too much for performance. So, we didn’t qualify where we should have qualified.

“We adjusted the setup for the race and we were a lot more competitive.

“Ben had a really great first stint staying out of the carnage at the start and driving us to the front. Chris also started his stint really strong, putting himself in a good position.

“But then, unfortunately, a little bit of an opportunistic move on the other car ahead meant that, of course, we received a deserved drive-through penalty.

“That meant I had to go from P24 in my stint. But I had fun and the pace of our car was really good. It was very hectic with a lot of chaos around me to get to the front. But in the end, to finish ninth, recovering from that drive-through, I think was really strong.

“So overall, although it was not the result that we wanted, a lot has been learned and it was a positive weekend.”

Verstappen returns to Formula 1 action next week at the United States Grand Prix in Austin.