Verstappen crew fourteenth in Portimão GT3 qualifying as Barnicoat explains pace shortfall

Early on October 17 China Standard Time (UTC+8), the No. 3 Mercedes-AMG of Verstappen, Ben Barnicoat and Chris Lulham qualified fourteenth at the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup Portimão round. Its three-session average was 1:42.624, 0.553 seconds off pole.

Boutsen VDS' No. 2 Porsche took pole in 1:42.071, followed by No. 17 GetSpeed Mercedes and No. 80 Lionspeed Porsche. Rossi's No. 46 WRT BMW was 59th without a valid Q2 time.

One driver per session, with average times determining order

Three different crew members drive Q1, Q2 and Q3, with their best laps forming the average. For F1 followers of Verstappen, these are not successive elimination phases for one driver, nor does the final phase's fastest lap equal the crew's qualifying result.

Barnicoat set 1:43.124 in Q1, Lulham 1:42.655 in Q2 and Verstappen 1:42.093 in Q3 for 1:42.624. The pole Porsche's corresponding laps were 1:42.445, 1:41.856 and 1:41.912.

Barnicoat cites straight-line bouncing and changes that did not work

Speaking in the interview on Verstappen's website, Barnicoat felt pace was missing and all three were dissatisfied. Several adjustments failed to deliver expected effects, with pronounced bouncing on the straights.

He remained confident for the three-hour race, saying the crew knew its shortcomings and how to improve, and hoped driver strength and teamwork would move it forward.

No. 65 loses all times, leaving No. 3 fourteenth

No. 3 ended the session fifteenth but rose after No. 65 HRT Ford lost every qualifying lap. Stewards found its data logger disconnected before qualifying and not recording data, breaching the rules, so deleted all Q1, Q2 and Q3 laps.

Verstappen also received a penalty in earlier FP1. Stewards held him responsible for an avoidable Turn 3 collision with No. 25, issuing a reprimand and one behavior warning point, without a grid drop.

Rossi's crew 59th without Q2

Max Hesse, Rossi and Neil Verhagen's No. 46 recorded 1:42.679 in Q1 and 1:42.563 in Q3, with no valid Q2 lap. Its displayed 1:42.621 averages only two times. Though numerically faster than No. 3's average, the incomplete three-session record left it 59th.

Three-hour race starts at midnight China time on October 18

The schedule sets a rolling start at 17:00 local time in Portugal on October 17, corresponding to October 18 at 00:00 China Standard Time (UTC+8), for three hours.

Qualifying results

All 61 cars' final qualifying results appear below, in minutes and seconds. “—” indicates no valid time; No. 65 has lost all three-session times.

INKA SPORTS analysis: Q3 narrows the deficit, but earlier sessions remain in the average

Comparing No. 3 with the pole Porsche session by session gives gaps of 0.679, 0.799 and 0.181 seconds. Their sum divided by three produces 0.553. Verstappen's phase was closest, but the average retains prior losses. That explains why a closer Q3 did not reach the front. Different conditions between phases prevent these figures alone ranking teammates' abilities.

No. 3 was only 0.004 seconds behind thirteenth-placed No. 32 BMW and 0.023 ahead of fifteenth-placed No. 30 BMW, much closer than pole. Barnicoat's feedback identifies bouncing for attention, but timing cannot quantify its cost or predict recovered places if solved.

Conclusion

Two scales emerge: milliseconds to the car ahead, over half a second to pole. Advancing depends on turning adjustments into stable pace through all drivers' stints. A closer Q3 is worth following but does not establish three-hour race competitiveness.