Max Verstappen will make a wildcard appearance in the Australian Supercars All-Stars Eseries this week, where he will compete against the majority of the regular grid.

Supercars started its Eseries last week with races at Phillip Island and Monza, with Scott McLaughlin and Jack Le Brocq picking up wins. For round two this Wednesday, Verstappen – who does not compete in the official Formula 1 events on the F1 2019 game – will drive virtual 5.0-litre, V8-powered Red Bull Holden that carries his F1 livery on the iRacing platform.

“I’m looking forward to the race,” Verstappen 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 (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.”

The second round consists of four races – two at Silverstone and two at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – meaning Verstappen does have good knowledge of the homes of the British and Spanish grands prix.

“It’s awesome that a driver of Max’s caliber will be on the grid to take us on in a Red Bull Supercar,” van Gisbergen said. “He’s fast and he knows these tracks well, so I expect to see him at the front. 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.”

The races will take place on Wednesday morning from 05:00 – 07:00 Eastern Time (02:00 – 04:00 Pacific Time).