Max Verstappen will compete in a GT race in Portugal later this month during his only free week in between two Formula 1 triple-headers.
In one of the busiest stretches of races in F1 history, nine races have been scheduled for the final 11 weeks of the season, with the 22 drivers currently in the midst of the first of three triple-headers.
After Verstappen raced in Azerbaijan last weekend, he competes in Malaysia this weekend before the Singapore Grand Prix next week. Now, the Dutchman will race for his own team – Verstappen Racing – in a GT World Challenge event in Portimao on 18 October.
With races in Austin, Mexico and Brazil straight after, it means the 29-year-old will race on seven consecutive weekends, as he fills in for his team’s drivers Dani Juncadella and Jules Gounon, who have a World Endurance Championship (WEC) race in Barcelona on the same weekend.
"I know that two of my drivers won't be part of the line-up, so two other drivers need to step in and I'm looking forward to it,” Verstappen, who raced at the Nürburgring 24 Hours event in May, said.
"It's going to be a busy seven weeks, but we'll do it and I enjoy it anyway. So, yeah. Let's see what we can do there."
Verstappen came close to breaking his winless duck last time out in Baku, finishing just 0.1 seconds behind race winner George Russell. The four-time world champion admitted he is keen to win a race this year, having claimed a grand prix victory in every season he has been at Red Bull, a run stretching back to 2016.
"I'm trying everything I can," Verstappen added. "We are scoring, of course, quite a few podiums now, but I want to win. That's what I'm here for.
"And I'm getting close, but I want to at least win one race this year. So I hope we can do it, of course, at some point. But yeah, we have some solid results."
Verstappen won the last F1 race at the Sepang International Circuit in 2017 and is also a two-time winner of the Bahrain Grand Prix, which is the official title of this weekend’s round.
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