Verstappen targets Spa 24 Hours in 2027 as GT racing ambitions grow after Portimao

Max Verstappen has set his sights on the 2027 Spa 24 Hours, naming the Belgian circuit as his favourite track and expressing a clear desire to compete there after finishing ninth in the GT World Challenge Europe at Portimao, where he shared a Team Verstappen Mercedes with Chris Lulham and Ben Barnicoat.

“It’s my favourite track, of course, so I’m trying to make it work,” Verstappen said after the race. “I just need to plan it all well that, of course, when I arrive [I’m] also well prepared. I’m also Belgian, so it’s just nice to be there to do one of the biggest endurance events of the year. I’m going to try my best to be there.”

Verstappen was born in Belgium, and his mother, former kart racer Sophie Kumpen, is Belgian — adding a personal dimension to his ambition to race at Spa.

The 2027 Spa 24 Hours is scheduled for 24–27 June, falling in the window between the Portuguese and British Grands Prix, which makes it logistically viable around his Formula 1 commitments. The race forms part of the Intercontinental GT Challenge, alongside events at Bathurst, Texas, the Nürburgring, and Suzuka.

Verstappen’s GT programme has been building steadily. In May he contested the Nürburgring 24 Hours on the Nordschleife, sharing a car with Dani Juncadella, Lucas Auer, and Jules Gounon. The team led until late in the race before a driveshaft failure ended their challenge prematurely.

“Sharing the car with team-mates is of course something that I haven’t really done in my life so far,” he said. “I got a taste at the Nordschleife for the first time, so I really enjoyed that. To get the first opportunity here now in the GT World Challenge for me is just exciting.”

At Portimao, Verstappen found himself racing against drivers he has known since his karting days. “Some of them I have raced already in the past. Some of those are a little bit older than me, but they have achieved a lot all over the world in every single category. So it’s a very high level.”

His stated goal is incremental improvement rather than immediate results. “It’s just every race making progress, getting better, getting more and more experience, and showing yourself among all the big boys in the paddock,” he said.

Of the remaining Intercontinental GT Challenge rounds, Bathurst in February is not understood to be on his radar, and Suzuka conflicts with the F1 calendar. That leaves the Nürburgring and Spa as the most realistic targets for 2027 — with Spa, given his Belgian roots and personal affection for the circuit, appearing the stronger of the two.