Max Verstappen named as Eseries wild card

F1 race winner Max Verstappen will compete in the second round of the Supercars Eseries this week as a wild card entrant.

The Red Bull Racing driver will be at the wheel of a Holden Commodore carrying the #33 and featuring a livery similar to his F1 machine.

The four races this week will take place at Silverstone and Barcelona, two circuits Verstappen knows well and which may give him an edge over the Supercar regulars.

“I’m looking forward to the race,” he said. “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. 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, 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.”

Verstappen will team with Shane van Gisbergen, who admitted it was a coup the Dutchman involved.

“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.”