How Max Verstappen’s ambitious new GT project has come together

Launched in 2022 as a platform for Jos Verstappen’s rally adventure, Thierry Vermeulen’s GT career and Team Redline’s sim racing activities, Verstappen.com Racing is taking the next step in 2025 by entering the GT World Challenge Europe (GTWCE) through supporting existing teams.

Sim racing standout Chris Lulham will compete in the Endurance Cup of the GTWCE alongside GT drivers Harry King and Thierry Vermeulen, driving an Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO.

Their first outing is this weekend at Paul Ricard in the south of France, where a 6-hour race is scheduled.

Driver line-up

One of Max Verstappen’s ambitions with Verstappen.com Racing is to help talented sim racers make the jump to real-world racing. He wants to prove that sim racing can be a viable alternative to launching a racing career instead of starting in karting, which is something not everyone can afford. Lulham, a 22-year-old from Coldharbour, is the first sim racer Verstappen has selected for this purpose.

“Chris has a long track record with Team Redline,” Max’s manager Raymond Vermeulen told Autosport at the Japanese Grand Prix. “Max holds him in high regard because he always provides strong feedback when they’re working on the set-up of the virtual car.

“Last year, Max invited Chris for a private test. He got in the car and was immediately on the pace, even though track conditions were very difficult,” Vermeulen continued. “That made it clear to us that he has a lot of talent and the ability to make the transition from sim to real GT3 cars. We’ve done several more tests with him since then.”

King followed a more traditional path by starting in karting before moving up the Ginetta ladder in the UK. After winning the Ginetta GT4 Supercup in 2019, he went on to claim titles in both the Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain and Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux. Last year, he finished second in the Porsche Supercup as well as the highly competitive Porsche Carrera Cup Germany.

“A quick, experienced guy, a real racer,” Vermeulen said of the 24-year-old Briton. “When he became available last year due to circumstances in his career, we moved quickly to secure him for this season.”

Vermeulen’s 22-year-old son Thierry, who has been forging his motorsport career since 2020 and has been part of Verstappen.com Racing family from the start, completes the driver line-up.

Partner team

For the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, Verstappen.com Racing has decided to partner with British-Bahraini GT3 race team 2 Seas Motorsport.

“We’ve had a relationship with 2 Seas Motorsport for a long time,” Vermeulen explained. “Nick Cristofaro, who set up the team with Bahraini Isa Al Khalifa after racing himself, is a close friend of Max’s.”

Since 2024, Verstappen has owned an Aston Martin Vantage that he occasionally takes to the track. On those occasions, he has already relied on the Silverstone team for on-track support. Vermeulen: “So it made sense for us to partner with them for this step into the GTWCE Endurance Cup.”

Thierry Vermeulen, Harry King, Chris Lulham, Verstappen.com Racing

Photo by: Verstappen.com / David Klopman

An active role

Despite his busy Formula 1 schedule, Verstappen is heavily involved in the GT3 project. He supports the drivers with advice during private tests and sim sessions, delivers feedback on the car livery and even contributes to the setup of the Aston Martin. He also shares his views as the engineers are preparing for the race weekend.

“He’s done enough mileage in that car himself to be able to make a meaningful contribution to the baseline set-up,” Vermeulen said. “He also helped develop the sim models for the Aston Martin, to translate what was tested on track in the sim setup.”

How likely is it that at some point we will see Verstappen himself racing with a Verstappen.com Racing liveried car?

“I can see that happening,” said Vermeulen, before quickly clarifying that it wouldn’t happen anytime soon. “His main focus remains Formula 1, of course. And there are a lot of commercial considerations if Max were to drive a car other than his Red Bull. But perhaps the team wouldn’t be against it. Red Bull does tend to think outside the box. We haven’t put this question to them yet.”

High ambitions

Verstappen won’t be able to attend the debut of his GT team at Paul Ricard, as he’ll be racing in the Bahrain Formula 1 Grand Prix this weekend. But he has made clear that he’ll be closely following the performances of Lulham, Vermeulen and King.

“I’ve got a live connection, so I can keep a close eye on things,” he told a small group of media, including Autosport, at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Asked what his expectations are of Verstappen.com Racing’s first appearance in the GT World Challenge Europe, Verstappen replied: “It’s always hard to say in advance because you’re dependent on the BoP, but the goal is definitely to be the best Aston Martin.”

“No pressure, guys!” he grinned. “Then again, a bit of pressure can only be a good thing, right?”

“We’re competing in the Gold Cup, but our reference point is the top. That’s who we need to measure ourselves against,” Verstappen said. “They’ve done a lot of testing, so that definitely won’t be the issue. We’ve tested on all the tracks that we’re racing at and gathered a lot of data. Now it’s up to them and the team to extract the maximum.”

“There will definitely be things to improve after the first race weekend, but the main thing is to keep making progress. I’m really curious to see how they do.”

“We’re ambitious,” Vermeulen agreed. “We’re not here to make up the numbers, we want to compete at the front on a regular basis.”

He acknowledged this won’t be easy in the ultra-competitive GT World Challenge Europe. “There are some big teams with a lot of experience. It’s going to be tough. But we do expect to fight in the front in our class.”

Thierry Vermeulen, Emil Frey Racing

Photo by: Verstappen.com / David Klopman

Sprint Cup

Lulham and Vermeulen will also be competing in the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup. They’ll be representing Emil Frey Racing, sharing a Ferrari 296 GT3. “We’re aiming for podium finishes there,” Vermeulen said.

The fact that Lulham and Vermeulen will be driving in two different cars in the GT World Challenge Europe can only be a positive, according to Verstappen’s manager. “The Ferrari is obviously a very different car from the Aston Martin, but that only helps the development of their driving skills,” he remarked. “They’ve tested extensively with both cars, so we don’t expect issues when they’re switching between them.”

Way to unwind

In addition to the GT World Challenge Europe, Thierry Vermeulen is entering his third year in DTM. “Hopefully, he can challenge for podiums more often this season,” Vermeulen Sr. said. “He should at least be consistently finishing in the top ten.”

Jos Verstappen, meanwhile, has a packed rally schedule in 2025, including the Belgian Rally Championship and the European Rally Championship. “Formula 1 is the pinnacle, of course, but after that, Jos thinks rallying is the greatest thing,” Vermeulen noted.

Will he still have time to attend some of Max’s races this year? Vermeulen: “His schedule is packed. I think he’ll still be at a few F1 races. But even if he isn’t, he won’t miss anything. We’ve got a group chat and are always messaging each other.”

On the sim racing side, Team Redline – lead by Atze Kerkhof – continues to rack up sim racing success. New in 2025 is Verstappen.com Pro Simulation. “It’s a professional simulator used by racing teams, where both young talents and experienced drivers can work on their racing skills. And for us, this is also a good way to scout drivers who we can then support.”

Verstappen.com Racing is backed by Red Bull. “We have a long-term contract, which says something about our loyalty to Red Bull, despite everything that’s being written and said,” Vermeulen commented.

According to Vermeulen, the collaboration with Red Bull must be viewed separately from what happens in F1. Even if Verstappen were to one day leave Red Bull Racing, the energy drinks brand could continue to support Verstappen.com Racing. “I don’t see why not. They support many teams and drivers.”

With Verstappen.com Racing growing, you might wonder how Verstappen is able to manage all these activities next to his F1 job. “For him, it’s a way to unwind,” Vermeulen said. “Some people play football, others go play snooker, but Max goes sim racing, works on set-ups, and calls Thierry and the other Verstappen.com Racing drivers to ask how testing went. For Max, this is what relaxation looks like.”