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Max Verstappen took to social media to strongly condemn the online abuse and personal attacks directed at his GT teammate Chris Lulham following their race in Portimao.
Over the weekend, the Dutchman and Lulham teamed up with Ben Barnicoat behind the wheel of the No. 3 Mercedes in the GT World Challenge Europe. Lulham took over for the second stint after Barnicoat. However, during his time on track, the Briton made contact with the No. 48 Mercedes, spinning it around and earning the crew a drive-through penalty. The sanction dropped the car to 24th place by the time Verstappen stepped in for the final stint.
The reigning world champion fought his way back through the field to cross the line in ninth, executing a late-race overtake on Arthur Leclerc—brother of Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc.
While Verstappen viewed the weekend as a productive outing, he firmly denounced the hostile backlash aimed at Lulham over the incident and subsequent penalty.
"Exciting weekend! I was super happy to drive our GT3 car in Portimao. We had our ups and downs, but as a team we learned a lot," Verstappen wrote on Instagram before addressing the attacks on his British teammate.
"I feel the need to address the hate and harassment Chris received after the race. Everyone is entitled to their opinion about what happens on track, but these personal attacks are unacceptable. Chris drove a very strong stint, and mistakes happen. There is no place for this kind of behavior in our sport or anywhere else."
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