Max Verstappen was heavily criticized for his overly angry behavior at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Many believed that it was a result of lack of sleep due to a late-night sim race for his Team Redline which forced him to stay up till 3 AM.
As a result, there have been plenty of reports suggesting that Red Bull has now banned Verstappen from taking part in sim races before a Grand Prix event. However, the Dutchman has now confirmed that there is no such ban on his sim racing.
Following the race in Hungary, Helmut Marko explained as per a report from racefans.net that the team has spoken to Verstappen about the situation and both parties have come to a mutual agreement that the Dutchman would not take part in sim-racing during the Grand Prix weekends. However, Verstappen’s recent comments suggest otherwise.
“No, it’s not like I have a ban,” Verstappen was quoted in a report from De Telegraaf. “We talked about it and I said they don’t have to worry because there’s no sim race on the schedule for a while. But I also don’t have to tell them what they can do in their private time during a race weekend.”
The 26-year-old even mocked his team recently during a livestream when there were talks about one of the members having a night out. As per a post on X, the Dutchman jokingly said, “Not me of course. I was tucked into bed by 9.”
max: he had a night out last night so.. not me of course. i was tucked into bed by 9 pic.twitter.com/gBDCyNeCMS
— nini (@SCUDERIAFEMBOY) July 24, 2024
Verstappen says sim-racing has nothing to do with his frustration in Hungary
Verstappen also explained that the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps sim-race had no effect on his preparation for the Hungarian Grand Prix and that he had gotten more than seven hours of sleep, which is plenty for him. He then revealed that he also followed a similar routine during the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix weekend, a race that he won.
Verstappen then stated that no one criticized him for taking part in sim racing when he was winning F1 races. Verstappen stressed his point by saying that he has been managing sim racing alongside his F1 career since 2015 and has won three championships during that time, so he knows how to balance the two.
Max Verstappen on the sim-racing situation:
“When i won both races in Imola, you don’t hear anyone.”
“I’ve been doing this since 2015. I’ve won three world titles and I think I can estimate fairly well what I can and can’t do.”
[https://t.co/SwhVlphJDc] pic.twitter.com/k1Gsyym8OS
— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) July 25, 2024
Interestingly, Marko revealed that the night before the Hungarian GP, Verstappen had to stay up till 3:00 am because one of his teammates from Team Redline had dropped out of the sim race. Hence, the Dutchman was just covering up for his friend.
