Red Bull driver gives tips to Verstappen's rivals: 'What you need to do'
Red Bull Contentpool
F1 News
- Sandy van Wijngaarden
Max Verstappen has showed the best of his qualities in the 2024 season, as the Dutchman managed to win his fourth title ahead of Lando Norris. Sim racing driver, Jarno Opmeer, explains a reason why he thinks Verstappen is ahead of the rest of the grid.
Jarno Opmeer is a sim racing driver for Red Bull Racing, after he joined from Mercedes, and the Dutchman has already become champion twice in virtual Formula 1. Max Verstappen also spends many hours in sim races, as he participates in various virtual races. The four-time champion previously received a lot of criticism when it came to light that he was driving at a sim race until the middle of the night during an F1 weekend. Opmeer does not see Verstappen's dedication to sim racing as something negative, but rather believes that is something that also helps him.
This is how to perform better in Formula 1 according to Opmeer
"Max is a bit of the founding father in F1 in terms of sim racing. If they want to keep up with his level, they don't really have much choice. Otherwise you just don't get good enough" the Dutchman told Formule 1 Magazine.
The sim racer said that while sim racing, he also regularly met previous Formula 2 drivers such as Oliver Bearman, Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Gabriel Bortoleto. These guys will all make their full-time F1 debut in 2025. "The drivers who perform a bit less in F2, I rarely come across them in the virtual world. Look, it won't just be because of that, but then you do see that certain drivers put in more effort and give it more," Opmeer concluded.
This article was written in collaboration with Kada Sárközi
Want more Formula 1? Then follow GPblog on our various social media channels!