Verstappen on sim racing: 'Even harder to win than in real life'
Red Bull Contentpool
F1 News
When he's not competing in Formula One cars, Max Verstappen has dedicated time to a different form of racing. In recent years, sim racing has grown to be more than just a hobby for the World Champion and he has shared his thoghts on the growing virtual sport.
"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," Verstappen stated in an interview with The Athletic.
Verstappen was not serious about sim racing at first
At first, the Dutchman did sim racing mainly for fun. "I never really had time to spend a lot of time on the simulator because combining school (and) go-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."
It took a while for Verstappen to fall in love with the online sport. "I did it for a little bit, and then I realized, ‘OK, this is actually a lot of fun when I’m surrounded by really good drivers, and I want to try and be good at it as well. And then, step by step, you get the right gear, you get the right advice from the drivers (on) how to build up your sim, what you need. That was definitely very helpful."
Verstappen has a majority stake in the sim racing team Team Redline. When the Dutch driver is not preocuppied with his Formula One racing duties, he frequently participates in virtual races.
This article has been created in collaboration with Sandy van Wijngaarden.
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