The floods in Italy affected Formula 1, as the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was canceled. Thus, F1 drivers do have some free time to help the victims overcome the tragedy. While most of them can’t go to ground zero and help, they can certainly contribute to the relief funds. And, as per Team Redline manager Atze Kerkhof’s words to Motorsport, Max Verstappen is organizing a sim racing event on Sunday that can amass money by fans donating through the live stream.
With this, the Dutchman aims to add to the $2.16 million already contributed by Ferrari and Formula 1 so far, as both entities have contributed $1.08 million each. The event’s name will be ‘The Real Races Never Quit’. Previously, under the same banner, several races were also completed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
🚨 Max Verstappen confirmed to join #RRNQ 🚨 pic.twitter.com/veUQJti2yX
— Team Redline (@TeamRedlineSim) May 19, 2023
The virtual event is reported to have several renowned Red Bull junior drivers like Enzo Fittipaldi, Ayumu Iwasa, Arvid Lindblad, Jak Crawford, and Isack Hadjar. Whereas some Formula E drivers are also going to participate.
Fans will get a medium through Max Verstappen to donate
While fans would get some racing action for the weekend, it would also give fans an outlet to donate to the relief fund. The event also stands in solidarity with AlphaTauri’s home Faenza, which has also been affected by the floods.
“As you know that team is based in Faenza and that place has also been hit hard. We will show a link and QR code in the stream that can be used to donate money to the emergency fund. We will encourage anyone watching to make a donation,” reveals Kerkhof.
Verstappen has officially given his support to the event by powering the event through his official website Verstappen.com. Since the Red Bull star is investing his time in the event, his F1 team has also pitched in by supplying the drivers for the online event.
Other F1 drivers are helping in their own way
Verstappen is not the only person who is adding to the relief fund through streaming. Lando Norris also recently did a stream on Twitch where he pledged $1,244 for every 250 subscribers to his channel.
When he completed his stream, fans propelled him to donate over $8,000. On the other hand, some drivers are going beyond raising money. On Friday, Yuki Tsunoda was spotted on the streets of Faenza, cleaning up the damage done on the streets.
Yuki Tsunoda and his AlphaTauri team mates have been helping with the clean-up in Faenza ❤️ pic.twitter.com/uf2qN5syTf
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 18, 2023
Fans massively praised the Japanese race driver for taking things into his own hands. He has also pleaded with his followers on Instagram and Twitter to contribute to the relief funds.