Max Verstappen was highly criticized after a disappointing 2024 Hungarian GP, where he was frustrated a lot too. Starting in third, the Dutchman fell down two places and finished in fifth after struggling with strategy, his car balance, and losing on-track battles. His angry comments throughout the race on the team radio highlighted his irritation.
Many experts correlated the high irritability with lack of sleep due to his sim racing duties the night before the race. However, Verstappen dismissed such suggestions the first chance he got and even Helmut Marko defended the 26-year-old on this aspect.
Verstappen’s participation in the iRacing 24 hours of Spa till 3 am local time in Budapest was a much-debated topic before and after the race. So, after the race many suggested that Red Bull could ban and limit the three-time champion’s sim racing screen time.
The reigning champion mocked this suggestion in front of his friends during the latest livestream. As seen on X, Verstappen was live with his Team Redline family casually conversing. Owing to their usual antics banter, the Dutchman casually mentioned his bedtime. He said, “He had a night out last night so. 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
The confession sparked a laugh among his sim racing teammates. However, this is usually how Team Redline livestreams go. There’s a lot of laughter and banter mostly at the expense of the Dutchman and his F1 career.
The various instances of Verstappen being mocked during his Team Redline streams
There are not many three-time F1 champions actively driving in the world of sim racing. In fact, the Dutchman is the only one in the newly developed virtual racing world. However, as a breath of fresh air, Verstappen isn’t treated like the racing royalty that he is by his teammates and is constantly mocked by them.
It was made evident by one instance where the entire Team Redline ridiculed him for his pronunciation of the word ‘analyze’. Skipping the X-rated explanation behind the joke, the entire team burst out laughing when he said, “Analyze what we did wrong,” as seen on Twitter (now X).
max: ANALyze what we did wrong
— nini (@SCUDERIAFEMBOY) July 24, 2024
In another instance, Verstappen showcased how he doesn’t mind cracking a joke at his expense. Someone on the stream started playing the Dutch national anthem. It was a reference to how overplayed the anthem was during the 2023 season.
However, owing to the events of the 2024 season, the three-time champion instantly said, “Something we haven’t heard in a while” before letting out a light chuckle.
It’s all fun and games for the 26-year-old when it comes to sim-racing. However, the recent late-night shift to participate in the 24 Hours of Spa did not sit well with the team. It will be interesting to see how he juggles his two racing worlds in the future.
