It’s that time of the year when social networking sites release their users’ annual recaps. These recaps feature the user’s personalized streaming habits that stand out in comparison to common streaming patterns. Twitch, a popular live-streaming platform, did the same and went a step ahead to release a global recap as well. That prestigious list features Max Verstappen, who was a regular for his sim race streaming.
“Even real F1 stars took to Twitch to sim race. Max Verstappen, 4-time World Driver’s Champion, sim raced for TeamRedline this year. It was even rumored that the Red Bull F1 team gave him a curfew after he stayed up late streaming the night before a real race. No worries Max, we’ve all been there,” they wrote.
The ‘rumored curfew’ was of course a reference to the post-Hungarian GP debacle. Verstappen raced in the virtual 24 Hours of Spa until 3 AM the night before the Grand Prix in Budapest. At the Hungarian GP, he appeared irritable on the team radio and fired some over-the-top verbal volleys at the Red Bull team.
@Max33Verstappen Featured on Twitch recap. pic.twitter.com/pREwFUz1DH
— Formulanonymous (@Formulanon80838) December 10, 2024
Many, including the Sky F1 commentators, attributed his demeanor to insufficient sleep. Soon enough, rumors began to spread on the internet that the Dutchman was ‘banned’ from participating in sim races the night before an F1 race.
While Verstappen never clarified whether he received any such reprimand, he did appear defensive in his response. Without mentioning whether he was referring to his team or the media, he called for maintaining distance from his personal life.
Moreover, the 27-year-old rendered any such ‘ban’ to be meaningless as he did not have any sim race coming up that coincided with an F1 race.
When a technical glitch in sim racing left Verstappen fuming
Having won practically everything there is to in F1, one would expect Verstappen to take sim racing lightly. The reality, however, couldn’t be far from this assumption. The F1 champ participated in the 2023 virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans, a prestigious event. Verstappen was leading the pack to take home the $250,000 prize money.
Sadly, it wasn’t to be. A technical glitch saw the race leader disconnect for a while. Once he logged back in, he found himself in P14 with just six more hours to go. Infuriated, Verstappen drove back into the pit lane and retired the car. He called the event a “clown show” on the livestream.
Further berating the organizers for the sour experience, Verstappen said, “That’s why it’s better to retire the car because driving around in P15 for six hours makes no sense for everyone.”
Verstappen admitted that he was preparing for the championship for five months and two months for that particular race. “That’s it, game over. I think I have more chance if I go to Vegas and go to the casino, I have more chance to win,” he concluded.
