Verstappen has new dream: "I think that would be a very nice story"
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For Max Verstappen, sim racing is much more than a hobby. Not only does he himself take it very seriously, he also wants to give the members of his own Team Redline the chance to find a way into motorsport via sim racing. This is why he has become even more involved with the esports team in recent years.
Verstappen wants to take sim drivers into motorsport
When Verstappen wanted to invest more in sim racing, he chose to put his money and time into Team Redline, which he has been a part of since 2015. "I’m a loyal person. I really appreciate friendship a lot," the Dutchman said in conversation with The Athletic. "I could have set up my own team under my own name. I didn’t want to do that because we had such a good group of people at Team Redline that I was like, ‘I don’t want them to then come to me. I want everyone to stay in a structure.'"
Instead of forming his own team, Verstappen invested in Team Redline, thus becoming the major shareholder. "I said, you guys started it all, and I find it very important that everyone stays on and, you know, everyone is in their own role, but we keep this winning team – because they were when I joined. They were already incredibly successful," Verstappen continued.
"“I said, ‘But if you really want to be successful for the long term, I need to be more involved, and when I’m going to invest in it, we go all the way’, and that’s basically what happened at one point." There are a few drivers within his sim racing team who he thinks have the potential to make the transition to real life racing, but the four-time world champion deliberately withholds their names.
Verstappen: "I think that would be a very nice story"
"I don’t want to put pressure on them now. Also, from their side, they don’t know yet, but they know my ideas and plans, but they don’t know who is going to be selected yet." Some sim drivers already have some experience in motorsports but couldn't keep making their way in it due to the high costs, while others who do not have that experience yet, but may very well have the potential.
"“I know it takes time, but I do want to find the talent that is able to transition to real life," Verstappen explained. "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. Ideally, they start with my team, and then they get picked up by manufacturers and then they really build up their career. I think that would be a very beautiful story."
This article was written in collaboration with Nicole Mulder.
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