Max Verstappen has taken to social media to call out the personal abuse directed towards GT team-mate Chris Lulham after their race at Portimao.
According to Racing365, Verstappen and Lulham were joined by Ben Barnicoat aboard the #3 Mercedes in the GT World Challenge on Saturday, with Lulham taking the middle stint after assuming control from Barnicoat.
However, during his stint, Lulham made contact with the #48 Mercedes, with the #3 earning a drive-through penalty, and dropping Verstappen down to 24th when he took over the car for the final stint.
He climbed back to ninth, including a late overtake on Arthur Leclerc, brother of Charles.
Verstappen felt the weekend overall had been positive, but took to social media to call out the online abuse directed at Lulham for the penalty incident which had been directed towards the Briton.
"Exciting weekend! Was very happy to be racing our GT3 car in Portimão. There were some ups and downs, but as a team we learnt a lot," the statement began on Instagram before turning to Lulham.
"I also feel I need to speak up about the hate and harassment Chris has received after the race. Everyone can have their opinions about what happened on track, but these personal attacks are not okay. Chris had a really strong stint, and mistakes can happen. There’s no place for this kind of abuse in our sport or anywhere else," he added.
Before leaving Portugal, though, Lulham became a target on social media with fans on the livestream sending unnecessary comments to the driver. This eventually moved to X and Instagram. He was seen on the live feed apologising to Verstappen after the race.
