Video taking off 24x its usual first day

Max Verstappen takes on Portimão's crowded GT endurance grid

Sky Sports F1's race broadcast drew nearly 690,000 views in nine hours, with overtaking and drone camerawork catching viewers' attention.

Channel:

Sky Sports F1 Story of October 18, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 1,301,725 views a day, 24 times a normal first day on this channel (53,842).

Max Verstappen takes on GT World Challenge at Portimão!

Video summary

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1:05The commentators introduce a three-hour endurance finale featuring 61 GT3 cars across multiple classes.
2:04The race begins, with Alessio Picariello taking the initial lead ahead of Thomas Preining.
5:15Ben Barnicoat makes an inside pass in his McLaren to move up the order.
6:36Valentino Rossi pits early with mechanical trouble and falls a lap down.
18:43Contact sends a Ferrari into the gravel, prompting a Full Course Yellow warning.

A McLaren dives up the inside, a Ford Mustang defends its position, and a Ferrari ends up in the gravel. Max Verstappen is the headline attraction in Sky Sports F1's Portimão broadcast, but the opening laps offer plenty to follow before his own driving becomes the focus.

"Max Verstappen takes on GT World Challenge at Portimão!" is a full race broadcast rather than a short package of his highlights. It follows the Endurance Cup finale at Portugal's Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, where a packed GT3 field shares the circuit across several classes.

The upload reached nearly 690,000 views in nine hours, already far beyond the channel's usual full-day audience for longer videos. That makes this excursion beyond Formula 1 a particularly strong draw on a channel whose recent uploads include a Singapore Grand Prix review and paddock interviews.

The race gets busy immediately. Alessio Picariello takes the initial lead ahead of Thomas Preining, Ben Barnicoat slips his McLaren through on the inside, and Valentino Rossi makes an early pit visit with mechanical trouble. Later, contact sends a Ferrari spinning into the gravel and brings a Full Course Yellow warning.

In the comments, viewers discuss Verstappen's progress through traffic and the difficulty of passing in such a crowded field. Another gives the drone camera operator a moment of recognition: amid all those cars, the broadcast's overhead view has an audience of its own.

Published on Trari

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What viewers say

Give it up for the drone camera operator 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🫡
@MooNwALKER....See it on YouTube
verstapen drove so well im not his fan but he is is an amazing driver never gives up i love that abt him
@salgshaka4483See it on YouTube
Obligatory post: TU TU DU DU, MAX VERSTAPPEN
@Right-WingZizekSee it on YouTube

3 more comments

One of the best drives ive seen from Max
@Faz1oSee it on YouTube
DOTD: Max Verstappen
@rubbersoul2841See it on YouTube
Great race, difficult to pass with so many cars in the track. Max drove like the GOAT.
@oscarmwilsonSee it on YouTube

Public comments from the video's page on YouTube