Verstappen joins Supercars Eseries grid as wildcard driver

Max Verstappen has joined the Supercars grid for the All-Star ESeries for this week's rounds at Silverstone and Barcelona.

The opening two rounds of the championship were held last week at Phillip Island and Monza, with the latter event seeing major incidents on the opening lap.

This week's event will take place on Wednesday, April 15th from 7 PM AEST, and will be available to view on Supercars' social channels. 

Verstappen will drive the #33 Holden Commodore car in a Red Bull Racing livery, similar to that of his 2020 Formula 1 car.

The Dutchman has sat behind the wheel of a Holden Commodore before when seven-time Supercars champion Jamie Whincup took him for a ride around the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne in 2019.
 

“I’m looking forward to the race. It’s going to be a challenge as it’s not a car I’ve driven a lot on the sim, but they are pretty cool to watch in real life” Verstappen said.

“We always race with Supercars in Melbourne so it’s going to be interesting to see how I get on against all the regular drivers.

“I’ve tried the Supercar now a few times on iRacing and it’s a very tricky car to get right. I’m looking forward to racing alongside my mate Shane [van Gisbergen], or Pastor, as I call him – he’s a top shunter on the sim!

“We race online a lot together so hopefully we can do well for Red Bull and it should be a bit of fun racing against the other V8 drivers as well.”

Van Gisbergen, who won the Supercars championship in 2016, says he expects to see Verstappen competing at the front of the grid. 

“It’s awesome that a driver of Max’s calibre will be on the grid to take us on in a Red Bull Supercar,” he said.

“He’s fast and he knows these tracks well, so I expect to see him at the front. He’s put in plenty of hours in a Supercar online. Just like he races in an F1, he’s aggressive and won’t back down against anyone, so it will be great to have him on the grid this week.”