Verstappen: Sim racer to Formula 1 driver would be a beautiful story
F1 NewsTuesday, 18 February 2025 at 08:00
Four-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen's passion for sim racing and his online racing exploits are well known, but for him, virtual driving is far more than a game and, boy, does he have some ambitious plans!
Despite competing against full-time simmers, Verstappen is acknowledged as one of the top sim racing drivers in the world. Unlike most of his rivals online who are dedicated 24/7 to training in the virtual world, Max also balances his virtual racing with being the benchmark driver in F1.
Notably, almost without exception his rivals in both disciplines - virtual and real - recognise him as the best.
His interest in this form of eSports is not a passing phase. Starting a couple of years ago, Verstappen expanded his involvement by investing in Team Redline, a professional eSports team with which he had been closely associated for years. Rather than creating his own team, he chose to support Redline, citing strong friendships and loyalty to the existing structure.
Verstappen explained: “Everyone always thinks that it’s just a game and it’s fun, easy-going. But I would say the competition is just as hard, or even harder, to nail—to win—than in real life.”
But with school and a packed junior racing career, his time in sim racing was initially limited, he recalled: “I never really had time to spend a lot of time on the simulator because combining school (and) karting, it was not possible. From 2009 until like 2015, I did a bit but just for fun, to go on with my friends and have a good time.”
No time to do sim racing as a kid
There was even a period when he stopped sim racing entirely as he focused on his motorsport career. In 2015, Verstappen joined the F1 grid full-time, racing for Toro Rosso (now Racing Bulls) at 17 years old before moving to Red Bull Racing the following season.
History shows that after just four races in 2016, he was promoted to the senior team and won his first race with Red Bull. Around the same time, Verstappen began taking sim racing more seriously, and his passion for it continued to grow.
Verstappen reflected: “I did it for a little bit, and then I realised, ‘OK, this is actually a lot of fun when I’m surrounded by really good drivers. I want to try and be good at it as well'.
"Then, step by step, you get the right equipment, you get the right advice from the drivers (on) how to build up your simulator, what you need. That was definitely very helpful.
“I [also] keep myself busy with doing the same thing as in real life, working on setup, strategy, racing, pit stops, all these kinds of things. It is becoming more and more professional every single year," ventured the 27-year-old
Verstappen and Team Redline
Team Redline operates similarly to a traditional motorsport racing operation, including employing engineers to optimise everything from hardware, and software to setups for racing according to Verstappen. The team holds pre- and post-race meetings and analyses data to improve performance, a level of preparation he says “only happens with the top [sim] teams.”
“We really want to be successful," the Dutchman said. "You need to operate like that. There are so many, say, eSports out there. Now, instead of mainly using whatever mouse and keyboard or a controller, there’s a little bit more involved in it. But we try to mimic the real world.
“That’s what all the games try to do. They try to get as much data as possible from the real cars and bring that into the virtual world and try to replicate the same,” he explained.
Sim racing has even allowed Verstappen to test various cars outside of F1, he added: “It meant I could already practice how my knee would hold up, and my ankle. So when I got into the car here in Hungary, I didn’t have to use much more force than at home. Everything just felt OK. And my neck is doing well as well, so that’s great.”
Verstappen: I also want to find an opportunity for sim drivers to get into the real world
Initially, Verstappen enjoyed sim racing as a way of connecting with Team Redline, but he also sees it as a gateway for young drivers.
He said: “I also want to find an opportunity for sim drivers to get into the real world. We all know go-karting and the early steps into racing, they all cost a lot of money.
"In sim racing, you can see talent already when they are driving on very easy-going equipment, what you can buy in the local supermarket and save. It all costs a lot less money.
“You can attract talent from all over the world. If you look at people in general in (the F1) paddock, it’s very limited to Europe. Then you’ve got the U.S., Canada, South America, Mexico, (but) it’s not a lot. One driver from China, but it’s not a lot of diversity. In sim racing, there are a lot of different countries already participating.
"I just want to try and open it up to many more drivers. The price is already a big game changer for that, to find new talent," he reckoned.
With regards to drivers making the quantum leap from the virtual world and real world, Verstappen believes the transition from sim racing to real-world racing requires careful development.
He said: “In the simulator, if you hit a wall, it doesn’t hurt, so you’re not really that afraid when you’re driving.
You won't get hurt driving a sim, in real racing you do when you crash... and it's expensive
Verstappen continued: "In real life, when you sit in the car, you have your helmet on, suit, belts are strapped in, you suddenly realise, ‘Wow, I’m in a real car with a real engine. If I crash, it’s going to cost money, and I can hurt myself.’ This whole realisation needs to happen.
“You have to go through these kinds of stages to make them realise what they have to do to be an athlete, basically. From there, then you need to give them time. You need to coach them when you’re there in real life, step by step, build up to it.
"You can’t rush them into something and say, ‘Within a year, you need to be on top of your game.’ They are fighting against people that grew up like me in go-karting and built up a lot of real-life experience," explained the Red Bull ace.
Verstappen has already begun testing this approach with Thierry Vermeulen, his manager’s son, who started racing at 18 with “zero experience. He revealed: “The only thing he does now is GT3 in real life and then a bit of sim work.
"So again, we went through that process, and he’s doing incredibly well. He’s fighting against the top drivers. He’s already scoring podiums here and there.”
Looking ahead, Verstappen wants to start his own team, merging real-life racing with sim racing. He has identified potential drivers within Team Redline but has not named them publicly.
“I know it takes time," he said, "but I do want to find the talent that is able to transition to real life. Not everyone has that in them.
"Some are just very good at what they do, and they might not make it in real life, but (I want) at least to give them the opportunity. I think that would be a very beautiful story," added Verstappen, the king of the virtual and real racing worlds. With big plans!
Latest News
Loading
