Verstappen gets two 40-second penalties during sim race

Agreed. Although i have seen a lot of improvement in his demeanor over the years, there's always room for refinement. As things stand I think the stewards won't think twice about giving him that race ban if it comes to that.

Better he screw up in a sim. The stewards have their eyes on him and yes one or two have made biased comments unbecoming of their role. If Max deserves the penalty so be it. However if the penalty given or its severity is out of proportion to what other drivers get or get away with (opening lap) then I will have a problem with it.

Once again I am in complete agreement with you. Did Max deserve some of those penalties? Absolutely, but the severity of them were beyond precedent. Fortunately there are precedents that have set a benchmark, otherwise some of the anti Max trolls will start their normal nonsensical howling.

The penalties given and its severity have already been out of proportion to what other drivers get or get away with. So, I already have a problem with the Stewards. The fact that they express biases and preferences for certain drivers outside the Steward's room is problematic per se. When added with their inconsistent decisions, all seemingly advantaging some drivers and disadvantaging others, it becomes intolerable for any unbiased eye and any organization. Apparently FIA is not "any organization"

"...but as his driving comes under increasing scrutiny (fair or unfair)" Haha what? A few trolls here and there currently is absolutely nothing controversial pairen to the unfair scrutiny Max revieved during his first F1 years... He didn't gaf then, so I doubt he will be bothered now! ?

He said it himself. He won three (now four) titles. No need to change the way he drives!

The deck is now stacked against him. The stewards are making this more personal now than ever before

And this will fire him up even more!

The deck is and was always stacked against Max... nothing changes...

Joost, I have the trolls on "ignore mode". Much like Max does.

I had that during the season as well! May revert back to it in March ?

Not only is it logical, but it has been said, time and time again, that it is very helpful for drivers, especially nowadays. After Ham expressed his sentiments against sims in the middle of 2021 season, he himself changed his mind and started putting hundreds of hours working on sims.

Strange how you see this as 'completely logical,' but that’s precisely the issue. Driving like you're in a video game, where consequences are minimal and you can hit reset after a crash, isn’t something to celebrate. It’s a problem and it's one that Verstappen displays both on the track and in the sim-racing world. Take Monza 2021. Rather than conceding a lost corner and focusing on the bigger picture, MV made a desperate and reckless move that not only ended his own race but also took Hamilton out of contention. It wasn’t just clumsy; it was calculated (deliberate). A decision driven by ego rather than racing sense. The same mentality shows up in his sim-racing antics, where he’s been known to deliberately crash opponents, even if it ruins his own race. This isn’t just 'logical', it’s a pattern of behaviour that takes away the respect and professionalism expected in F1. Racing isn’t about playing chicken or treating every corner like a high-stakes grudge match, it’s about skill, strategy, and knowing when to take risks without crossing the line into petulance. Max’s sim-racing mindset might work for a fanbase that enjoys the drama, but for those who respect the craft of racing, it’s a glaring flaw imo. Treating real-life competition like a video game doesn’t make him bold, it makes him reckless, short-sighted, and, a poor example of what F1 is supposed to stand for.

I completely disagree with your post, as was to be expected! ? "Strange how you see this as 'completely logical,' but that’s precisely the issue. Driving like you're in a video game, where consequences are minimal and you can hit reset after a crash, isn’t something to celebrate. It’s a problem and it's one that Verstappen displays both on the track and in the sim-racing world." You know thats kind of the point right, to drive in SIM racing as if it were the real world! You act like Max is driving around in some minor Mario Kart leagues, but in reality he is amongst the best of the best in SIM racing as well and immensly respected. He takes it very seriously, just like F1. Also don't forget he is making MUCH more miles in SIM racing than in F1 and the way you are trying (and failing) to portray Max his reputation/style in SIM racing is far from the truth. Sure, he is agressive as usual, but his crash frequency is nothing extraordinary compared to all the other drivers! Don't get me started about Monza...we went over it sooo many times, where you always deny Lewis' involvement in the incident and lay 100% of the blame with Max. All good and you know my opinion on it as well. Max def was mostly to blame, he was frustrated and made a do-or-die move, but Lewis handled it poorly as well... He should still easily have won...

"Not really. There have been plenty of points you made in the past that I agree with and usually most comments have some part(s) that is agreeable. Its usually when you go overboard, attack Max' character, or go into 'trolling mode' when the disagreeing starts!" Attacking Max's character or criticising his actions on and off track doesn't make me necessarily wrong. You just don't want to agree agree because it's not agreeable to you. I don't think it's about the accuracy of my statements. But it's normal for a fan to want to defend his driver from criticism from outsiders, even if they're right. "Regarding the SIM racing, I think it's fine that Max approaches SIM ans real life the same. You say he drives in F1 like he drives in the SIM, I think he drives in the SIM like he does in real life. Sounds the same, bit is a big difference! " You are free to think it's ok to drive in real life as you do in a computer game. I think driving into people or forcing them off as though you're in a computer game isn't right. Forcing drivers off isn't right, period. The whole point of sim-racing is to have it as real as possible. I'm a sim racer and have been for a very long time. I know the deal. You want realism. Max runs in iRacing. That sim, is fine until you push the cars to the limit. At that point the tyre model is nowhere near reality. It totally fails. Ask around any top sim-racer who plays that game. Jimmy Broadbent will tell you the same as will Jardier (who has raced against Max). I'm sure if Lewis made some bold moves in F1 races and sim-raced as much as Max does, he'd receive criticism from Max fans accusing him of thinking he's still in the computer game. Some of Max's moves are one's I've made in sim-racing. Taking optimistic lunges down the inside. But if it fails, there's no damage, no real consequences. To do the very same in reality... it doesn't work that way. My statement and yours are different in meaning, but they are also two very different statements in and of themselves. We all want to drive sims as close to reality as we can and believe was are as close as we can be to racing the real thing. But to drive the real thing as you drive in a sim, is a whole different deal. You take more risks in a sim because the consequences are negligible and the fear is non existent. Sure, if you're league racing then there are punishable consequences, but there are none to you in the real world outside of that sim. You can't get badly hurt or hurt someone else. Max's moves in Mexico was some Gran Turismo / GTA V stuff. " I can only remember one instances where he did it on purpose in a race and that was indeed retaliation and there was no doubt about it. Besides that, I dont think I have ever seen him do it in an actual serious SIM race, so I'm not sure where you get that from." I thought you said Max takes sim racing seriously (even if the sim he'd in can't model tyre behaviour on the limit). That moment of retaliation wasn't in a serious sim-race? I think Max takes them all seriously. Way too much in this instance. But it is my contention that if Max has this mindset to retaliate on someone like that in a sim, he can do it (and has done it) in real life. We can see when he called Russell a d/head and stated that he'd do the same back to him, that the mindset exists. Then there's Monza 2021/Jeddah 2021 and Brazil 2022 to name only 3 moments where they were retaliatory/deliberate moves. "Sure, Logan Sargeant would get respect in SIM racing as well, purely because he is ex-F1, but on a completely different level than Max." That's just an extra line for some further Max hype. I'm not concerned with that. If Sargeant was sim-racing, me might be quicker than Max. Some sim-racers are quicker than Max, who probably don't even race professionally. Oh yes we hear about Max winning, but let's hear about all the one's he didn't win. "something that is uncomparable with drivers like Sargeant! ?" That whole paragraph was more Max hype. I just gloss over that and pay no attention to it. In real life racing Sargeant is useless. That doesn't mean he will be in sim-racing. It doesn't work like that. I've seen just at home sim-racers who haven't race in real life before, beat professional drivers. There was a guy called Greger Huttu who was once described as 'The worlds greatest sim racer'. He would have given Max a very hard time. He was that fast, his sim-racing talent got him noticed and he got himself a test in a real race car and after he acclimatised himself he became pretty fast. Sim racers couldn't work out how he was so fast and one race he said "I wasn't driving that hard". He was insanely good and a well respected sim-racer. Look him up. A bad driver in real life doesn't mean you're not insanely fast at sim-racing.

"Let's face it, you disagreed with it before you even read it." Not really. There have been plenty of points you made in the past that I agree with and usually most comments have some part(s) that is agreeable. Its usually when you go overboard, attack Max' character, or go into 'trolling mode' when the disagreeing starts! Regarding the SIM racing, I think it's fine that Max approaches SIM ans real life the same. You say he drives in F1 like he drives in the SIM, I think he drives in the SIM like he does in real life. Sounds the same, bit is a big difference! And yes Max is very (or immensly ?) respected in the SIM world, and I dare say also.by the people he 'deliberately' takes out. I can only remember one instances where he did it on purpose in a race and that was indeed retaliation and there was no doubt about it. Besides that, I dont think I have ever seen him do it in an actual serious SIM race, so I'm not sure where you get that from. Sure, Logan Sargeant would get respect in SIM racing as well, purely because he is ex-F1, but on a completely different level than Max. Max gets respect as (4x) WDC of course, but mostly because he is very very fast in the SIM as well and usually amongst the best drivers in their classes. That makes Kyle Larson's comments all the more humorous. ? Didn't know you were a SIM racer by the way, thats cool! That should mean that you have seen plenty of SIM races. I'm no expert, but from what I've seen it is sometimes crazy how fast Max is on the SIM as well. I dont understand how I've seen races where he is supposed to be amongst the elite in a SIM class, and then drives from the back all the way to P2 in a 30 min race... Its his talent, lines he drives and his skill that make.him respected....something that is uncomparable with drivers like Sargeant! ? "What has the miles got to do with it? Again another irrelevant point." I mean that GP Blog likes to post some of these clips or incidents just for the clicks, and admittedly also when he has great SIM races or makes a joke during a session (all debatable content for this site), that its only a minuscule sample size of all the hundreds of thousands of miles he has raced on the SIM. Any characterization based on such a small sample size is....not very reliable. "See I wouldn't have had to bring all this up if you'd stuck to the point of my post and now we're going to be talking about a whole host of different things and it will drag out way longer than it ever needed to. Oh well. So be it." Owh no it won't! ?

"I completely disagree with your post, as was to be expected!" Let's face it, you disagreed with it before you even read it. "You know thats kind of the point right, to drive in SIM racing as if it were the real world!" Yes, I know that, I'm a sim-racer. But I also know that there's no way I could drive in a read race like I do in sim-racing. The risks are real, the chance of injuring yourself or others is real. In sim-racing I can take risks I would never do in real life because if I hit another car, or make myself look stupid to others players, so what? But translate that mindset into real racing you have have some of the moves that Max makes. But he has the entitlement that he should be able to do it because he does it in sim-racing. "You act like Max is driving around in some minor Mario Kart leagues, but in reality he is amongst the best of the best in SIM racing as well and immensly respected." I'm not acting. No not like Mario Kart. Don't take things to silly extremes. He isn't respected by the people he deliberately shunts off and ruins their race. And don't tell me that didn't happen. He's respected because he's an F1 driver playing sim-racing with people who are enthusiasts. Logan Sargeant would get respect if he took part in a sim-race. It's the celebrity factor. Why did you add 'immensely'? On what scale has this been measured? Or is it solely to big Max up as is a fans duty? " He takes it very seriously, just like F1." What's that got to do with anything? I take my sim-racing seriously too. The point I'm making is Max sometimes does things in real racing that makes it look like he thinks he's still playing a game. I play the same sim as Max does. I haven't been on iRacing for a short while admittedly, but that's besides the point. You're simply trying to make a case to glorify Max as some amazing person. The usual. But you're detracting from the point of my post. He drives like he's in a racing game. That's the point and it's not meant as a compliment as you thought it was. That move on Piastri in AD'24. You'd do something that silly in sim-racing. Big lunge into traffic and hope for the best. Sometimes Max can't separate the line between sim-racing and real racing where there are actual consequences. And the only time I've ever seen him admit fault is after his silly move on Piastri there in AD. And that's because he said he didn't want to lose friends with him. If it wasn't for that, he'd no doubt be blaming him as he always blames others when it's him instigating the move that didn't work. Consequently his fans then follow like sheep and come on to F1 forums and blame others too. And when the fans from the others speak up, there you have the animosity again. "Also don't forget he is making MUCH more miles in SIM racing than in F1 and the way you are trying (and failing) to portray Max his reputation/style in SIM racing is far from the truth. " What has the miles got to do with it? Again another irrelevant point. I'm failing? On what do you base that? Your personal reaction? Max's reputation/style is something Max shows us. I don't have to portray anything. His constant forcing other drivers off track, his crashes into other drivers either because it's deliberate or because he made yet another desperate lunge in the hope he could bully his wak through, the Jeddah brake check (something else you might do in sim-racing if you wanted to be unsporting) etc. The desperate lunges from way back with the expectation to be leading out of the next turn.... sim-racing stuff. But he acts it out in the real world and he illegally forces drivers in real cars off the road and ruins their races just so he can make his move stick. When he's penalised for it, he makes childish remarks such as 'they can have a wine or dinner on me' and 'I've got the wrong passport'. Imagine another driver (e.g. Lewis) saying those things. You'd be here mocking him. " Sure, he is agressive as usual, but his crash frequency is nothing extraordinary compared to all the other drivers! " Again, you're not addressing my point. The frequency of his crashes aren't what's being debated. But when he does crash it's how it's happening. Such as it being calculated or due to a dumb optimistic move he was trying (and failing). His antics in Mexico was appalling for a supposed world champion, same in the previous race in Austin, where he must mistrust his skills so much that he doesn't want to try making a clean pass on someone by going wheel to wheel with them. Much easier to force them off so then they can't legally re-pass him. Totally against the rules and the stewards let him get away with that crap too many times. He got away with it every single time in 2021 with one exception (Jeddah). Even then Masi (who cosied up to RB and his actual friend Wheatley) offered RB a deal on how they wanted to serve their punishment. Who does that like ever??! Also much harder to crash into others when you have the dominant rocketship and you're out in the lead. In traffic, unless Max gets a clean DRS pass on the straight, you know somethings going to happen if he wants to try it in a corner. The other driver is likely going to be forced off if he tries to defend his position. We all know it's going to happen before it happens. See I wouldn't have had to bring all this up if you'd stuck to the point of my post and now we're going to be talking about a whole host of different things and it will drag out way longer than it ever needed to. Oh well. So be it. "Don't get me started about Monza...we went over it sooo many times, where you always deny Lewis' involvement in the incident and lay 100% of the blame with Max." And I always will. Just like you will always lay 100% of the blame on Lewis for Silverstone. In Monza, Lewis was in front, didn't have to give up the corner, didn't have to leave space. Max decided to make a move and he instigated that move. It was 100% his priority to make sure he could pull that move off and do it clean. There was no way that was ever going to happen. No way a fierce title rival was going to just make room and let him through. Max would not have given Lewis and inch if the roles were reversed. Max's crash into Lewis was slow and deliberate like Schumacher pretending he couldn't make the corner at Rascasse in Monaco quali, to stop Alonso's hotlap. Foul play just as Max's move was. The reason I can't put any blame on Lewis is because Max wanted that crash. He was 33pts ahead and he knew if Lewis got ahead there, he was likely going to win (Lewis needed to still pass a car or two, which would have been a certainty). Max's only opportunity to stop Lewis winning was right in that moment. The only time in the race they were together. He saw the opportunity to stop Lewis and took it. They both went out and now he's stopped Lewis narrowing the points gap. So yes, 100% on Max. "he was frustrated and made a do-or-die move, but Lewis handled it poorly as well... He should still easily have won..." Yes it was do or die, only in this case he knew it was going to pretty much end the race for Lewis or both of them. And I think Max was prepared to live with that. His interview post race Brazil 2022 reinforced my view that Monza 2021 was deliberate. Nice to hear Max admit that he did things like that. What did Lewis handle poorly? The press? You cannot easily win a race when a car has been parked on your head by an entitled frustrated driver.